Rin, the Fugitive
by Ravinae
Summary: "Unlike the stories so often told, my journey of a thousand miles does not begin with a single step, but with an explosion. Here is my story, listen well, for I don't repeat myself very often." Rated T for language
1. The Explosion

Everyone knows they're out there, the brave souls who are destined to save the world. Everyone, it seems, but the souls themselves. They just think that they're going to go on their own journey across the land, get strong, and beat the champion. Be it contests or the Elite 4, the story is always the same. They end up battling the criminals, take down their boss and capture the legendary pokémon, using it to take down the champion with ease. My story however starts in a different place, in the Alamar region. Unlike the stories so often told, my journey of a thousand miles does not begin with a single step, but with an explosion. Here is my story, listen well, for I don't repeat myself very often.

My home is on the outskirts of the small, northern, frost-bitten village of Eira. It's so far north, you can make a snowman in August. My family lives in a nice house with two levels and a nice big fireplace. Ever since I was little I've been surrounded by pokémon. Maybe that's why I can understand them, but then again, maybe I was born with it. Who knows? Like I was saying, I've grown up with pokémon. There was Flit, my father's Altaria and Eve, my mother's Eevee. Both are very kind and gentle creatures, but wrong them, and they just might go ballistic. When my journey begins, I am a thirteen year-old girl, almost fourteen. My curves have just begun to show themselves and my parents were almost ready to let me leave on the journey that every determined child makes. My dream to become a pokémon trainer and defeat all the gyms is going to come true tomorrow morning, on my birthday. Professor Cypress will give me my starter and then I will finally be able to defeat the Alamar League and others to become a Pokémon Master! Little do I know what lies just beyond the corner.

I ready my outfit for tomorrow, since I can't sleep anyway. _It's three-fifty in the morning. You'd think my body would have just shut down by now._ I think to myself. I set my long, tan shirt with the blue zigzag pattern on the edges down next to the light grey/blue pants. I decide to wear my dark brown mukluks and bring my lighter jacket, since I won't be in the snow forever. I deliberate between my red swirly headband and the one with the blue flowers. I pick the blue and set it alongside my tan messenger bag. The one my mom gave me to journey with. I look into the mirror and plan what I'm gonna do with my hair. The same face I've seen for years stares back out at me. The same ice colored eyes, the same tan skin, the same, extremely long, dark hair that my mother likes so much to compare to a Murkrow's wing. But something is different. I realize that I have a spark of determination lighting up my features that normally isn't there. I decide to leave my hair down, mostly because it won't ever do what I want it to in the first place. When I look away from the mirror I hear a noise. It sounds like snow crunching under a boot. I look out my window, but I see nothing. I go back to making sure my things are in order and hear the crunching noises again. I look out my window once more and see a man at our doorstep. I pull on my clothes that I just laid out. _Hey, I aint sleeping anyway. Might as well be fully dressed to help out a stranger._ On a whim I bring my bag, boots and coat with me to set at the front door. I hear the knocking of the man at the front door. I walk down the hall so I can answer.

"Mama, Papa, someone's here." I say loudly, in case they didn't wake up at the knocking. I get downstairs and go to open the door, setting my things beside it. Papa comes down and gets to the door before I do.

"Hello?" he says as he opens the door, "Young man, you shouldn't be this far north this late at night. Come in and warm yourself." Papa opens the door further to let in the tall stranger. He walks in with a small thank you and sits by the fireplace.

"Would you like some tea?" my mother asks, always willing to serve food. The stranger nods and stares at the fire, like he's willing it to get warmer, or something. I study him as my mother bustles around the kitchen. He's got light brown hair that needs a cut and a strong jaw line. His eyes are never wavering from the fire, hardly blinking, even, but they are a lovely shade of amber. I notice Eve standing in the kitchen. She seems to want to be as far away from the man as possible. I look back at him, but he doesn't look dangerous. I decide it's just her nerves. Flint glides down the stairs and lands on his usual perch by the window. Now I know something is wrong. Flit never wakes up until either breakfast or something big is gonna happen. I walk over to Eve since she's the farthest away from him.

"Eve, what's going on?" I whisper, "Why do you look like you're going to jump out of your fur?"

"_That man. He's not who he seems. He is dangerous."_ She says back. I go over to the couch and sit on the other side of the man. I study him once more. His jacket looks terribly thin for such a long trip north and his boots are hardly wet. They should be soaked if he's walked all the way here. Sitting closer to him, I smell something but I can't quite put my finger on what it is. It's sweet somehow. Papa is talking to him about his reason for coming here.

"Young man, just what are you researching?" Papa asks, trying to get to the point.

"Ice types, right now anyway." He answers in a deeper voice than I thought he had, "I am studying on their migration habits and social patterns."

"Hmmm," Papa grunts, "Well you really should have kept better time. It can get pretty nasty out there at night."

"You don't have to tell me twice," he says with a chuckle, "I'm just glad I found your village. I might have missed it if I was going any other direction." He is a very charismatic man. He just seems naturally likeable, but Eve and Flit's reactions are still bothering me.

"Rin, Honey, can you take a look out back. I can't get our stove to work." My mother asks me, and I nod. I go over to the door and pull on my jacket and boots. I grab my bag since it's got all my tools in it already, and that includes my flashlight.

"Come on Eve," I say to the suspicious Eevee, "You can help me see what's wrong. I dig out my flashlight and exit the house into the cold night air. I walk around back and find the water heater. I examine it high and low to find the problem and am just about to give up when I see it. The nut around the pipe has gotten loose again. I dig my monkey wrench out of my bag and tighten it as much as I can.

"Looks good Eve, let's go back inside." I say as I head back to the front of the house, Eve close on my heels. When I get to the front door I hear yelling, so I stop and eavesdrop.

"That's why we moved so far north! It was so we could live in peace! We _retired_, Hammond!" I can hear my father shouting.

"No you didn't! You left us! We need your skills again! We need your knowledge on the Zeta project! You two were the only ones who knew what it was capable of and you ran, taking the research with you! You're lucky they're sending me instead of Theo! I am giving you an option. He would just storm in here and make a mess of things. Please, come back to the lab and nothing will happen." It's the stranger who just gave the speech. He doesn't sound very sincere.

"Honey, maybe we should," My mother says, "We don't want anything to happen to Rin." She sounds kind of like a robot. Then I realize something, that sweet smell coming off the man. _It's Sweet Scent! That's why he's so charismatic!_ I think back on all the little things. The large jacket, the barely wet boots, the fact that he's here at three in the morning! _He must be hiding a grass type in his jacket, and he must have been dropped off in town or close by!_

"Yes, think of Rin. She's old enough to be going on her journey soon, isn't she? It would be a shame if she got hurt. Things happen, you know. She could get caught in a blizzard, or attacked by a feral pokémon. All sorts of things are possible." The more I listen to this man, the more I am disgusted by him. My parents stay silent.

"He's right, Darling," I hear my father say, "We can't risk her." He sounds so robotic, I can't take it anymore. I burst in through the door and throw a good sized ice chunk at Hammond's head, nailing him right in the left eye.

"Mama! Papa! Don't fall for it! He's using Sweet Scent to persuade you!" I yell in panic. My parents seem to get the message but are a little groggy in shrugging off the effects.

"You little bitch!" Hammond yells, "Now you're gonna get it!" he lunges at me but my father steps in the way.

"You will not touch her!" he says forcefully, "Hammond we are through, we are not going to work for that evil man anymore."

"Fine, you've just dug your own graves," he says as he opens up his jacket. I see the telltale Oddish hanging on the inside as he reaches for a different pokéball. He throws it in the air and it releases its contents into the living room. "Electrode, Explosion!" he orders and everything flashes white. I am hit by an invisible force and thrown backward, through whatever wall is left of my house. The last thing I see before I black out is the man with the Electrode, flying off into the night on an unknown pokemon.


	2. The Beginning

I don't know how long I've been lying there, in the wreckage of my once beautiful home. When I wake up, I see the damage in the early light of the morning. It can't be much later than seven in the morning. Eve is licking my face and pawing at my collarbone.

"_Rin! Wake up! Don't die on me!_" I hear her say. I sit up with a groan. It takes a bit for me to remember what happened, knocking your head will do that. When I do remember, I let out a gasp.

"Eve! What happened to Mama and Papa? Where are they?" I ask in a rush. She points her nose over to the left with sadness in her face. I scramble up and run over to find my parents and Flit, lying on the ground, not moving, not breathing.

"Mama! Papa! Wake up!" I yell as I try to shake them awake. They feel cold, not a trace of warmth in their bodies. I sit there, speechless. My parents are not moving, not breathing and are as cold as the snow beneath them. My mind refuses to accept the truth laying right there in front of me. I cannot stop the tears as they fall down my cheeks, neither can I stop shaking. My parents have gone from loving, kind, warm people to corpses with secrets in the course of one night. All because if that man. _Hammond. I will never forgive that man. _I look off in the distance, anywhere but my parents' lifeless bodies, and spot something. It is just visible against the snow, a white creature with a black face and claws. It appears to have a black horn on the side of its head. I stare at the cold creature as it walks away, without a backward glance. I look back at Flit and my parents. They always told me to look forward, not behind. Remember your mistakes, but keep going forward. I guess I will have to put that in effect here. The man with the amber eyes might return. He might also bring a few of his criminal buddies. I have to get out of here. I look at Eve, Her face turned towards mine in hope of comfort and to comfort, if need be.

"Come on Eve, we can't stay here. They might come back," I say in a robotic tone of voice. Eve looks worried, but she understands. I decide I might as well continue on today, as if nothing has happened. I will get my pokémon from Professor Cypress and go on my journey. I will run from whatever criminal group sent Hammond, and try to stay hidden. Maybe I can even go on my journey under a different name. I highly doubt I can, but I will try, for my parents. I resettle my bag on my shoulder and look once more in the direction of the white and black creature. I grab Eve's pokéball from where it landed near my mother. I quickly dig three graves, shoveling the icy dirt as fast as I can with the broken shovel from the wreckage, and bury my parents and Flit. Eve and I stand there for a few minutes, not knowing what to say. Then I return the heartbroken Eevee and I set her pokéball on the strap of my bag and walk to town. On the way I fix my hair to make sure nothing is standing out. I was lucky to not be injured in that explosion. Maybe Eve protected me, or maybe I was thrown just far enough not to be hit by any debris. This just makes my escape a little easier, since no one will think to stop me if I look fine.

Once I get into town, I see everyone going about their business as usual. You'd think someone would hear that explosion last night. It wasn't exactly a fizzle. I walk down the one and only street we have towards Professor Cypress' lab.

"Hey Fixit!" I hear a voice from behind me. I turn to see Alec, my friend since we were little, is running to catch up with me. His curly brown hair is a mess like usual. "I thought you'd never come! I've been waiting all morning. So do you know which pokémon you're gonna pick, Fixit?" He uses his childhood nickname for me, Fixit. I have always liked to fix things and Alec has been calling me that since I fixed his mother's phone. I put on a fake smile and nod. Alec, of course, sees right through my charade. "Hey, Rin, what's wrong?"

"Didn't get much sleep last night, too much excitement." I tell the half-truth. _At least I aint directly lying to him. _He just looks at me then shrugs.

"Well I can't wait to see what you pick!" he says breaking out into a smile, "I'll be waiting for you when you're done with the Professor." With that he runs back to his house. I walk the rest of the way down the street and reach the lab. I push open the door and walk inside.

"Hello? Professor? Anyone here?" I yell out at the seemingly deserted lab. I hear a crash from the back and go to investigate. I find the Professor tangled up in a bunch of wires and trying to hold up a strange looking machine.

"Ah, Ms. Amsel, so glad you're here. I was hoping you'd get here soon, as you can see, I'm a little stuck." Cypress says as he tries to untangle himself further, only making it worse. I chuckle at his 'Help me' face and untangle the wires from his arms and hair. Cypress has always been an awkward man, never really getting the hang of multitasking. Once he is free I step back and let him deal with his small machine.

"Thank you, Ms. Amsel," he says as he puts the grey hunk of metal on the table. "Now, let's get down to business." He runs his fingers through his blonde hair, dislodging a couple more pieces of wire. He pushes a button on the machine he set down and it opens with a small hiss. Inside are three pokéballs, each with a small design on the front.

"You are starting your journey today and these are the three pokémon you get to choose from. As you know you can choose from a fire type, a water type and an ice type. Unlike other regions, we don't give grass types since they don't do well in the cold. Let's see your choices, shall we?" He picks up the first one and releases it. The pokémon from the ball is a small orange weasel with a yellow collar and blue fins on its arms. It looks up at me and says small, timid, "Bui," before hiding behind the professor's legs.

"This is Buizel, he is shy, but great once you get to know him." The professor says as he reaches for the next one. He releases its contents and this one is quite the opposite of the Buizel. It is a small, black, bipedal cat with one pink ear and three pink tails. It looks at me out of the corner of its red eyes and sticks its nose up in the air with a "Snea!" Obviously disapproving of me.

"This is Sneasel," the professor says with an awkward laugh, "She's a little bit arrogant." He releases the final pokémon and takes a step back. This one is a small orange dog with black stripes on its back and legs with bushy fur on its chest and tail. This one seems excited and barks at me.

"This one is Growlithe, he's very energetic." The professor has a worried look on his face directed at the small dog. I look them over once more before making my choice.

"I think I'll choose Growlithe," I say and the small pup is practically dancing with joy. He jumps on top of me, effectively knocking me over in his excitement. Then he does something unexpected, he spits fire, effectively setting a little bit of my hair on fire. The professor is quick to grab a bucket of water and throw it on me before I know what is happening.

"I meant to tell you about that. It seems whenever Growlithe gets really excited, he lets loose a bit of fire," the professor says with an embarrassed smile.

"Well that would have been nice to know from the start," I say a bit harshly, "Growlithe, how would you like a nickname?"

"_Only as long as it's cool, like Orange Lightning, or Pyro, or Blazefury, or"_ I smile at his perkiness and laugh.

"How 'bout Tulio?" I interrupt before he can think of any other over-the-top names.

"_Tulio? Aw come on, you can think of something better can't ya?_" he says with a whine.

"Loki?" I try.

"_Hmmm, no_." He shakes his head.

"Tikeri?"

"_I like it! It's exotic!_" he says, finally giving his permission with a nod.

"Okay then, Tikeri, shall we begin our adventure?" I ask. He nods and I return him into his pokéball, finally getting a good look at it. It has a small orange and red fire symbol on the front.

"Ms. Amsel, allow me to present you with your very own pokédex and some pokéballs to start you off." The professor says as he hands me the light blue and grey, rectangular electronic and five empty pokéballs. "To use your pokédex, just open I up and point it at the pokémon in question and any information it has will come right up." He smiles at me as I walk out the door, placing the pokéballs in an empty pocket on the outside of my bag. I walk to the center of town and Alec's house. He would never forgive me for leaving without saying goodbye. Before I make it there I hear a loud clash of voices in the town square. I edge around the building nearest to me and watch from the alleyway. Near the statue that sits in the middle of town, a tall stranger and the Village Elder are arguing. I freeze in fear. _Hammond can't be back already! _Then I notice his hair. It isn't light brown but almost as dark as my own. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and try to eavesdrop.

"…-ything there, there isn't now. Just a hole in the ground." The stranger says.

"Where exactly did you stumble upon these ruins, young man?" The old woman asks.

"Just about a mile or so out of town. That way." He points to the east, where my house was located.

"That was David and Rebbekah's place! What happened!" she shouts.

"Like I said before, it's like something just spontaneously exploded! There are wood boards and pieces of furniture laying everywhere. The original blast site is just a hole in the ground now."

_Oh shit balls! I have to get out of here!_ I turn to run away and run into Alec, effectively knocking myself on my ass. _When the hell did he get so tall? _I look up at him and give a weak smile. He helps me up with a small chuckle.

"I was just going to find you," I say.

"Yeah, but then you got distracted," he knows me so well, "So who's the quack?"

"I dunno, I didn't catch much of their conversation." I use all of my skills as a liar to pull this one over on him. He seems to buy it with a small grunt.

"Sooo! Which did you choose?" He asks quickly, like a child waiting for a present.

"Tikeri, showtime!" I say as I release my Growlithe. He comes out with a small bark and a tail wag.

"So, fire type, eh? I knew it." He says with a cocky grin.

"And just how did you know this, Mr. fourtune-teller?" I raise my eyebrow in question.

"A water-type would just short out anything you build and an ice-type would just freeze your metal tools. A fire-type is perfect for you, Fixit. So, you named him Tikeri? That's definitely unique." He smiles and I smile back.

"Alright, Curly, I gotta hit the road. See ya later!" I say as I walk to the road out of town. Avoiding the town square, since I don't want to have to explain to the Village Elder. _I have to get out of here before they come back. Before Hammond realizes I'm not dead yet. _I make it all the way to the road out of town and take a deep breath. _I probably won't ever be able to come back. Not if I want to stay hidden from Hammond and whoever he works for. _I start to walk down the road and hear voices. I panic and jump into a bunch of snowy bushes on the side of the road. I can hear their conversation as they pass.

"…-sure they didn't find anything else? Just graves?" a masculine voice asks.

"Yeah, just a crater and graves. They looked rushed to me." A slightly younger voice says.

"So one of them escaped. Now we just have to find them. They might still have the research. That is as long as Hammond didn't blow it up." They chuckle and my stomach turns. They're laughing about my dead family like it was some joke! I wanted to jump out of the bushes right now and kick them in the crotch, but that would just give me away. Better to stay hidden until they pass completely. I hear their footsteps crunch off into the distance and I let out a sigh of relief. _I gotta get out of here as fast as possible! They already know I'm still alive, that's not good._ I get out of the bush and head in the opposite direction, towards the small town of Kentil. When night falls I am forced to make camp, not even halfway to the southern town. But instead of be easy prey on the ground, I decide to climb a tree and sleep there. The only other thing I'm really good at besides fixing things is climbing. I once spent nearly a week out in the tree in my backyard to protest room cleaning. So as you can see, I have no worries about falling out. It isn't long before I'm asleep, wrapped up in my sleeping bag and dreaming of blood and explosions.

**Hey followers and newbies, i hope you are enjoying the story so far! I've put a lot of effort into writing it just for you lovely people. i am now open to accept OC's! Isn't that fantabulous? i need a couple traveling companions and a rival, even a few villains. so i need your help to make them! even if you don't want to follow this story feel free to send a character my way. the more the merrier! so i'm just gonna need a few things about your character since i'd still like to have a little bit of creative license. just send in a review or PM with these basic facts. **

**Name: first and last would be nice but last is not mandatory**

**Personality: like, kind or arrogant or humorous. the more detail the better**

**Looks: i'll need hair color and style. eye color. any distinguishing marks and clothes.**

**Pokemon: send in a team of one to six. please no legendaries since i already have a plan for most of them. gender and nicknames(if they have any) are mandatory.  
**

**I will make sure to give you credit for your characters and i hope you send some lovely characters my way! **

**Read on fellow readers and remember one thing. Pokemon belongs to Nintendo! not me!**


	3. Kentil

It isn't much of a surprise when I wake up with a scream and fall out of the tree. I had just relived that awful moment when my house exploded, so it's natural I would jerk in my sleep. I just never thought it would hurt this much to fall out of a tree. I land with a large thump and all the breath in my lungs is expelled. As I sit there and gape like a Magikarp, I hear footsteps and voices.

"She can't have gone far. Her house was blown to smithereens. Who knows how long it took for her to get out of town." A masculine voice says.

"She must be close though. I thought I heard a scream from this direction. The little mouse is probably having nightmares." A feminine voice adds with a chuckle. I try to stay as quiet as I can, still trying to suck some air back into my lungs.

"Maybe she woke up and ran off?" the masculine voice says, "She's really just a kid, how far could she go. Let's try this direction." I hear them walk off into the undergrowth and lay where I fell for a while. _They know it's me. They know I'm running. Shit! _I look out of the bushes I had fallen next to and search for any stragglers. The criminal couple are gone so I get up and out of my sleeping bag. I quickly put it away and head in the opposite direction they walked toward. After a few minutes of walking I come to the main road, but stay off it. If they are searching for me then that would be the first place they check. I stay in the shade of the evergreen trees and head south. Kentil can't be much farther. The sun starts to rise on my left and it sets the snow filled horizon ablaze with golden light. I would stop to admire it, if I weren't trying to stay hidden from a bunch of criminals. I walk as fast as I can to get to Kentil, especially since I haven't eaten since two nights ago, and I don't have any food with me. When I finally make it to the small town, I head over to the Pokémon Center first. Not for my pokémon, but to get some food. It's strange that we never ran into any wild pokémon on the way here. _It must have been all the criminals in the woods. The pokémon would know instinctually to stay away from them. _Once I get to the cantina I let out Tikeri and Eve. They greet each other for the first time since I was a little rushed for introductions before. Eve is already in mothering mode, even though she is half the size of Tikeri, she's smoothing down the fluff of hair on his head. Tikeri just sits there and takes it like a man, probably because he knows Eve is his elder. He may be rambunctious, loud, obnoxious, and who knows what else, but at least he's respectful. I laugh as I walk towards the kitchen. I grab the sweet pokémon food I know Eve likes and make three sandwiches for myself.

"Hey Tikeri, what kind of food do you prefer?" I ask my little furball.

"_I'm kinda partial to the spicy stuff myself._" He replies, trying to escape from Eve. I grab a bag of the spicy food and bring all the food to the nearest table and give Eve and Tikeri their respective foods and chow down on my sandwiches. It feels good to have food in my stomach. You never really appreciate it until you starve for a while. I have an uneasy feeling that that might happen to me as often as not. I go back to the kitchen for a glass of water and come back to Eve mothering Tikeri again. It's funny seeing her wipe crumbs off his face. I chuckle as Tikeri sends me an exasperated look of, "Do something!" I just laugh a little more and let Eve be herself.

"Well guys, since we're on the run, we might as well take what precautions we can. Kentil has some clothes shops and I think I saw a salon on the way here, so those will be our first stops of the day." I say, mostly to myself.

"_Wait, wait wait, wait, wait! Who ever said anything about being on the run?_" Tikeri says with a puff of fire coming out of his nose. "_No one ever said anything about being fugitives! What the heck Rin?_" I sigh and explain the situation to Tikeri. By the end he looks mortified and I can't help the tears from falling off my face. I feel Tikeri climb into my lap and put his head on my shoulder.  
"_Don't worry Rin, you've got me to protect you. And you know no one will come near you with me around! You've got yourself a guardian. Eve can help out too, but I don't know what she can do. Maybe embarrass them to death or something._"

"_Whatever furball._" Is all Eve says. I laugh at the two of them, wiping my tears off my face.

"Thanks guys," I say with as much a smile as I can manage, "that makes me feel much better. Now let's go see what we can do about my appearance." I get up from the table and grab my bag, walking out of the Pokémon Center, to the center of town. It's still really early in the day, most people are still at home, but the shops are open. First I go to the salon and chop off all of my hair. The stylist is hesitant to cut it all off but I assure her that it's only bothering me. By the end, my hair is so short that I cannot even get it into a ponytail anymore. I head to the shops next. I buy a bright blue shirt with yellow around the high blue collar and down the sides in thick stripes. I also get charcoal colored pants with the same yellow lines down the sides with yellow edges and big pockets and a pair of yellow suspenders hanging off the belt. The last two purchases I make are blue sneakers and a beanie. The beanie is very unique, but familiar. I try to think of when I've seen it and remember a young man that passed through our town on the way to something called the "Battle Frontier. " He had one like this but it was red. _What was his name again? Topaz? Amethyst? Oh, I know! Ruby!_ He had the most wonderful sense of style, and his pokémon were lovely as well, especially the Milotic, it just oozed beauty. This hat is like his, the edge being colorful-in this case bright blue with a yellow circle-and the rest being white, giving off the illusion of the wearer having white hair. I immediately buy it remembering the fond memory of the slightly conceited, but kind-hearted, boy. Once I get back to the Pokémon Center I change into these new clothes and stare at my reflection in the mirror. I actually look like a serious trainer, it's kinda weird. What disturbs me most is my lack of hair. It used to be down past my waist but now it's so short, that if I didn't have any curves, I would probably be mistaken for a boy. The familiar weight of it is gone as well, my head feeling five pounds lighter. The shirt fits nicely, showing off what little I actually have for curves and I leave the collar open so it doesn't choke me. The long shorts go down just past my knees and match the shirt nicely. I decide to leave the suspenders down since the belt is working just fine and they hang on the sides of my legs. The hat is the last part I look at. Just like when Ruby passed through town, I could easily mistake myself for having white hair, except my bangs. They poke through on either side of my head. It doesn't look too bad though, at least they frame my face.

"Well, Eve, Tikeri, how do I look? Is it too much?" I ask my team of two.

"_I think you look wonderful Rin,_" Eve says with a grin, "_But it's strange seeing all your lovely hair gone._"

"_I think you look cool! Like an exotic champion. I like the hat the most._" Tikeri says with enthusiasm. I smile at the kind words from my friends.

"Alright guys, we need to train a little before we go to the next town. Marn has a Gym and I'd still like to challenge Gyms on our tour of secrecy." I say. I grab my trusty white jacket and bag before leaving the Center, heading to the outskirts of town. When we leave the town limits, I look around for wild pokémon. I need to train Tikeri and I have a pokémon in mind that I'd like to catch. We wander around the cold forest for a while until we come across a wild Sneasel. I immediately send out Tikeri, telling him to use Bite. He jumps at the Sneasel and lands a clean Bite. The wild pokémon counters with a Scratch, raking its claws across Tikeri's chest. He jumps away with hardly any damage. His fur absorbed most of it.

"Tikeri, Leer, then Ember!" I order and he jumps to it, quickly dropping the Sneasel's defense and blasting it with a powerful Ember. The Sneasel comes back with a Faint Attack, then Scratch again. Tikeri looks worn out at the double attack, but he's still standing. I order him to use one more Ember, which he pulls off with success, knocking the Sneasel out cold.

"Yes! Great job Tikeri!" I shout in victory.

"_What else did you expect from someone as awesome as moi?_" he says with a prideful puff in his chest. I laugh and continue walking through the icy woods. We run into three more Sneasels and a few Spheals. I have Eve take care of the Spheals since they are part water type.

"_Hey Rin, what are we looking for exactly?_" Tikeri asks as he trots by my side, his paws sinking into the snow.

"I'm looking for a pokémon that's unique to Alamar. In fact, it's the only pokémon totally unique to Alamar." I explain, "It's called Crysat. They can only live in the north here since it's cold and snowy all year long, unlike Icirrus or Snowpoint which defrost with the seasons. They're known to be elusive but I'm determined to catch one. I always said it would be the first pokémon I caught when I was little."

"_Oh, okay._" He simply states. After wandering for even longer, the sun starts to set.

"Alright guys, guess we're not gonna find it today. Let's go back to Kentil." I turn back the way we came, towards the city and start the long trek back. Some night pokémon jump out at us. Mostly Misdreavus and Snorunt. Eve and Tikeri take care of them with ease. It's nice knowing my friends are strong and able to take care of the wild creatures without too much difficulty. Before we reach town, however, a lovely female Crysat jumps out of a tree ahead of us landing on her small paws with grace. Her large ears-much like Eve's- are white with light blue tips and twitching as she walks in the snow. She has long whiskers extending back behind her head and a fluff of fur, like Tikeri's, on her chest that is the same blue as her ears. Her whole body and face is white up until her tail. The bottom half white like her body and the top half blue. What stands out most are her vibrant purple eyes, of which are fixated on me at the moment.

"_Well you three look like strong opponents,_" she muses, "_Let's have some fun, shall we?_" I grin and send out Eve. The Crysat starts off with an Icy Wind, quickly hitting Eve. I order her to counter with Tail Whip and then Bite. As Eve goes in for the Bite, the Crysat uses Double Team, confusing Eve as to which is the real one. The Crysat clones attack with Shadow Balls but since they are a ghost type move, they don't do anything to Eve.

"_Coward! Show your face!_" Eve challenges.

"_I may be many things, but I am no coward!_" The real Crysat appears nest to Eve and lets loose another Icy Wind, which Eve jumps to avoid.

"Eve, Bite!" I order while the Crysat is still trying to catch up. Eve deals out a powerful Bite and then lets go to return to my side. All of a sudden she starts to glow. _Oh my God! Eve is evolving! _I am speechless as I watch her become larger and much more intimidating. When the light dissipates I finally get a good look at my comanion. She has become black with yellow rings on her ears, legs, tail and forehead. I do not know this evolution so I take out my new pokédex to scan her. "**Umbreon the** **Moonlight Pokémon. On the night of a full moon, or when it gets excited, the ring patterns on its body glow yellow.**"

"So Eve, an Umbreon huh? Let's make this work, use Faint Attack!" I order and she quickly obeys dealing more damage to Crysat. I see her stumble to recover and know now is the perfect time to catch her. I throw the first pokéball my hand finds in my bag and it swallows her in a red light. It falls to the ground and shakes a few times before making a faint click. I jump for joy.

"We did it Eve! We caught a Crysat!" I yell with joy and pick up our new companion and let her out.

"_Well done, human. You are the first to be able to catch me._" She says with a smile making her whiskers curl.

"Well how would you like a name?" I ask.

"_All right,_" she agrees.

"How 'bout Frost?" She shakes her head, "Glacey?" Another shake, "Winter?" she agrees to this one.

"_We should get back to the Pokémon Center, Rin,_" Tikeri says, "_It's already dark._" I look at the sky realizing we have no light left. I start walking again with my companions trailing me. Eve's rings glow in the light of the full moon, giving us light to walk by. We make it to the Pokémon Center without incident and Nurse Joy is still up helping a young man with his Pidgeotto. I wait for her to help me and return my pokémon to their pokéballs. I hand her the balls and she sets them in the healing machine. I ask her if I can have a room for the night.

"Sure, just let me see your Trainer Card." She says with a smile.

"Umm… Trainer Card?" I ask, totally oblivious.

"Let me guess," she says, "You started off in Eira? With Professor Cypress?" I nod. "That man needs a level-headed assistant." She sighs. "It's a good thing I have the authority to issue one to you, otherwise you'd have to go back to the Professor." She starts typing away on her computer. "Age?"

"Fourteen."

"Name?"

"Reena, Reena Frost." I don't know what makes me use my grandmother's name, but it's too late now. She hands me blue and black badge case covered in swirling designs and a small plastic card.

"Here you go. That case is to hold your badges and your Trainer Card." She explains and hands me a room key as well. I thank her and head up to my room. I change into my PJ's and collapse on the bed with my furry friends around me.

**Yes I know i added a fake Pokemon. if you don't like it, then that sucks for you! I really like this Fakemon that my friend thought up and he deserves a little fun. I also want to thank Wosprig and adventurerXD for submitting OC's. I cannot wait to add them to this story! Remember lovely readers, I don't own Pokemon, that is Nintendo you're thinking of! :)**


	4. Companions

I wake up in the morning feeling refreshed and lazy. I know I should move on to Marn, but I just want to lay here and soak in the sunlight coming in from the window. My stomach, on the other hand, has a different idea, growling loud enough to wake Winter and Eve. I sit up and go get ready for the day in the bathroom. An upside to having really short hair, I don't use nearly half as much shampoo. I bet one big bottle will last me over a month now! When I get back, Winter is staring at me with sad eyes.

"What?" I ask.

"_Eve told me about what happened. You, child, have had far too much sadness in your life._" She rubs up against my legs and I pick her up, giving her a hug.

"It's fine Winter," I say, close to tears, "I just have to move on, and continue my dream. I know my parents would probably want me to keep going forward anyway." I give her one last squeeze and even hug Tikeri and Eve for good measure before opening the door. My team and I head down to the kitchen in the Center which is full of other trainers now. I grab sweet and spicy and dry food for my team, having already asked what food Winter preferred. I grab some eggs out of the fridge and make cheesy scrambled eggs with ham. That's one thing I love about the Pokémon Centers here in Alamar, the kitchen and other facilities are open for anyone to use. I bring the food and dishes back to a booth in the corner of the large cafeteria. My friends dig in and I pick at my eggs. I am in the midst of swallowing when I hear a voice yell from across the room.

"Oh my gosh! Is that really a Crysat?! Oh my Arceus!" I choke on my eggs in surprise as the girl whom the voice belongs to rushes up to my table and begins hugging and cuddling with Winter. Behind her are two pokémon. A Skarmory and the same type of creature that I saw at the beginning of my journey. I'm surprised she has her Skarmory out, since being both a steel type and a flying type, they don't exactly enjoy the cold air. I look at the girl hugging Winter and study her as I try to clear my lungs of any excess eggs. She's looks a good half a foot taller than my five foot two inches. Her hair is boyishly short and pure white with silver flashing at the edges, and she has light grey eyes. Her outfit is well suited for the cold. Dark blue jeans with a light blue, zip-up sweater with navy blue accents and a long scarf and a blue winter hat. Except she's wearing sneakers, and that is never a good idea for snow. I see Winter's face, pleading me to help her out as she squirms for freedom. I smile, but then see her retractable claws come out.

"Um, you might want to put her down." I warn, "I wouldn't be too sure of your face staying intact if you keep squeezing her like that." The girl just makes a confused face, but stops squeezing her. I grab Winter out of her arms and set her back down next to her unfinished meal. She glares at the over-excited girl and turns up her nose before eating the rest of her food.

"Oh, I'm sorry! It's just, I've been looking for a Crysat for like, forever and I have yet to find one." She rambles off, "So you can see why I got so excited seeing yours. I'm Kasha by the way, Kasha Altru! And these two are Current and Shade." she holds out her hand and I shake it.

"I'm Ri-Reena, Reena Frost. Although you can call me Rin. And this is Tikeri, Eve and Winter," I reply, almost tripping up with my name, "So what brings you to the Great White North?"

"Actually, the main reason I'm here is because of Shade, my Absol," she replies, "He kept urging me to come north when we were in Marn. I really have no idea why, but he stopped the day before yesterday after disappearing for a while. But he does that kind of often, so I don't worry about it. Then I heard a rumor about these pokémon named Crysat that are apparently only found in the freezing north. So I've been hanging around Kentil for a while looking for one." She speaks with a cool confident manner, not once doubting her words or being embarrassed by her story.

"Well, we only found Winter during sunset on our way back after being out all day." I explain, "I'm actually on my way to Marn right now to challenge the Gym there." She looks at me thoughtfully.

"Hey, do you come from Eira?" She asks bluntly. I jump a little at the mention of my hometown.

"Um, not really, why?" I ask. I'm not really from Eira, I was born and raised on the outskirts of town. So it's a half truth.

"It's just that's the direction Shade came back from, so I was worried something happened there." She says, not noticing my jump, or just ignoring it.

"What's that go to do with Eira?" I ask.

"Absol have become known as the Disaster Pokémon. Check your pokédex, it should say something about it." She says looking at her friend. I dig my pokédex out of my bag and point it at the Absol.  
"**Absol, the Disaster Pokémon. Absol appears when it senses an impending natural disaster. As a result, it was mistaken as a doom-bringer.**" It says in a computerized voice.

"See?" she says, "Anyway, it's just if he went to Eira, then something bad must have happened. It worries me that he practically dragged me all the way here, then just stopped bugging me about it."

"Well, whatever it was, it's probably nothing." I say, not wanting to get into any trouble with this girl. She doesn't look so sure, but shrugs.

"You said you were going to Marn, right?" she asks, I nod, "Why don't I come with you? I never got a chance to challenge the Gym myself. We can journey together! It gets a little lonely on the road." I think about it. _Will traveling with someone help or hinder my efforts of hiding? Will it look normal, or will it just put her in danger? I mean, I have changed my look dramatically and they aren't even looking this far south yet._ I think about stuff like this for another minute, but cave in.

"Alright. Who knows, it may be fun." I reply and she smiles, "You ready to leave today? I was planning on heading out after breakfast."

"Yeah, I was getting a little discouraged on my search for a Crysat, but maybe you'll be a good luck charm!" she says, sliding into the booth. I finish off my eggs in record time and pick up the dishes from my pokémon and myself. I head to the kitchen and dumped them in the sink. I returned to the table and grabbed my bag and returned my pokémon to their pokéballs.

"Ready Freddy?" I ask Kasha.

"You bet, Chet," she replies with a smile, returning her pokémon as well. We head out of the Pokémon Center and head south through the town. We pass the shops on the main street where I shopped yesterday. There are a lot of people out and about today. Kasha talks about how she tried many different tactics whilst searching for Crysat. She asks me how I found Winter.

"She just jumped out of a tree and challenged me to a battle. In fact, Eve evolved during that battle." I explain.

"Whoa, that's really cool." She says, "So you're planning on challenging the Gyms all across Alamar?" I nod. "Well, it's a good thing you met me! I have the exact same goal! We can take on the Gym Leaders together." I smile at her exuberance. She really has no sense of doubt. She just goes for it, whatever _it_ is. We reach the outskirts of town and I look back. I have a feeling this may become a habit. I look over the small shopping town. The stores in the middle and the houses on the outside of Kentil. This is the place where most people get their snow gear to survive this far north. Any farther south is usually survivable in a light jacket and pants. I look at the Pokémon Center on the main street in and out of the town. It is all lit up in warmth and kindness, standing ready to shelter any travelers that happen to pass through the cold, northern town.

"Yeah, it's a nice town," Kasha says from behind me, "It makes a nice home, but it's much too cold for me and Current." I look at her and smile.

"Wuss," I tease lightly.

"You'd have to have magma in your blood to be able to stay warm here," she plays along, "I hardly survived in full winter gear. I'm too used to warmth, being from the Islands. No way you'd catch me in anything less than pants, jacket and hat and gloves in this abominable weather. Speaking of which, how the heck can you be wearing shorts!?" I laugh and simply shake my head.

"Magma in the blood." I say bringing up her past statement. She pushes my shoulder, dumping me in the snow, but not before I grab her arm and bring her down with me! She laughs and throws a snowball at me. I retaliate by giving her a whitewash. For any of you that don't know what that is, it's when you shove snow in someone's face. She escalates it by shoving a big handful of snow down the back of my jacket, effectively ending our play fight. She laughs her butt off as I jump around trying to get the cold snow out of my shirt. Once it's all melted, she stands up and puts her arm around my shoulder, leading me down the southern road to Marn. We pass other travelers along the road and I pull down my hat to conceal my eyes. My eyes are the most noticeable thing about me and I'm sure Hammond noticed them when I threw that ice chunk at his face. Better to keep them hidden from total strangers and seem rude than accidentally let a minion of his see them and recognize me. Kasha doesn't ask me about my odd behavior, which I thank Arceus for. I really like her, and I know I'm going to have a good time traveling with her. She's a lot like Alec's older sister. We are currently on an abandoned stretch of road, when I hear a loud noise from above us. I push up my hat and look at the sky. In the sky is a large, blue bird with a long, sparkling tail. It cries once more before heading back north, towards the mountains near Eira.

"What do you think that was?" I ask.

"Don't know. Could be a Legendary for all I know." She replies

"Yeah right," I scoff, "A Legendary in Alamar! They all live in other regions! No one has ever seen a Legendary here, and probably never will."

"Of course they won't if you keep up that attitude," She says, "You gotta be optimistic!" _With my life, that may be a bit of a challenge. _I think to myself, _Optimism isn't exactly my forte. _

"If you say so," is all I say.

"Oh don't be a stick in the mud, err… ice. Come on! We'll be to Marn before you know it, and then you and I can challenge the Gym!" she says with a determined fist pump.

"Do you even know what kind of pokémon the Gym Leader uses? Or even who it is?" she gives me a blank look and I shake my head with a small smile.

"Hey! In case you've forgotten, I was pressured to come here!" she says in mock anger, "I didn't exactly have a lot of time to check out the Gym!"

"So you said you're from the Islands," I try to change the subject, "Which one?"

"I'm from Kairi, on Yoka Island," she says, "It's a little village in the boonies of the big island. Not many people know about it."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," I say thoughtfully, "You don't really look like you come from the Islands."

"I know," she replies, "My dad is from the north, Kentil, actually. He is a stereotypical northerner, and my mum's a full-blooded Islander."

"I guess that explains things" I ponder, "I mistook you for a northerner when I first saw you."

"What about you? Where you from?" she asks. I hesitate to give my answer, trying to think up a good lie. "Hey, it's okay if you don't wanna tell. If it's not my business then just say 'Buzz Off' and I'll leave ya alone."

"No it's okay. I'm just trying to figure out how to explain it." Half-truth, it isn't a complete lie when I say, "I don't really have a hometown," _At least not now,_ "My parents and I lived out in the forest, and that's where I was born. I don't really belong to any town, though we were closest to Eira." She looks at me with a weird expression on her face.

"Huh. And I thought I was from the Boonies," she says ponderously. We walk on in comfortable silence, not really knowing what to talk about, but not really wanting to break the mystical silence of the snow draped environment. We keep heading south, towards Marn and our first Gym experience. We run into very little pokémon, and those we do, mostly ignore us. We don't see any other Crysat, much to Kasha's disappointment, but by the time the sun starts to set, we aren't even halfway to Marn. It will take at least another day and a half of walking to get there, according to the map. We set up camp next to the road and Kasha sets up a fire while I go pick the few hardy berries of the north for dinner. Along with the berries, we have some traveler's rations. Like the just-add-water stuff and we melt snow into them to prepare a small meal. We fall asleep under the stars, talking about what the bird we saw earlier could be. I quickly fall asleep in the middle of the conversation, snuggled deep into my insulated sleeping bag.

**You have now officially met the first fan OC! yay! Kasha Altru is brought to you in part by adventurerXD. Sorry this chapter took so long to write, i had a whole day of writer's block, so just be glad it got posted eventually! :) anyway, just make sure you know two things.  
****1) I do not own Pokemon, only my OC's.  
****2) A female Azurill has a 1/3 chance of evolving into a male Marill.  
Yeah, think about that! anyway, Read On and enjoy!**


	5. Nightmares

My dreams, of course, are anything but sweet. The nightmare that faded away in town was back in full force. I relive that night again. I see myself exit the house and fix the water-heater. I see myself stop outside the door and eavesdrop with Eve. I see myself throw the ice at Hammond and peg him in the eye. I see Hammond call out his Electrode and demolish our house. In my dream, I fly back through the wall, just like last time. But this time, Hammond doesn't fly away on his pokémon. Instead he walks over to where I lay and starts talking. I can't hear anything but the ringing in my ears, but his meaning is clear. He's taunting me. The ringing clears with a pop and I catch the tail end of what he's saying. At this point he's simply angry.

"-s it?!" he yells, grabbing my coat and pulling me closer, "I know you have it!" I try to wiggle, slap and squirm my way free, but he refuses to let go.

"Your parents don't have it, so that just leaves you," He says with malice, "I am not going to stop hunting you until you give it up. I will personally make your life a living Hell! All this could have been avoided if you would have just listened to me when I came to your house. But no, you had to get wise and blind me!" He start to shake my by my coat front, getting angrier by the minute. I throw a punch to the left side of his face, that's covered in blood, and connect with a crack. He jerks back with a weirdly feminine yell. It surprises me, especially since I never thought a man like him could make such a girly noise. As Hammond turns and glares at me, I see his left eye underneath all the blood. It's milky white. He then simply gets to his feet and starts walking away.

"You are going to regret every decision you made this night," He says, "I'll make sure of that." He fades into the darkening landscape and I jolt back to the land of the waking. I blink the sleep out of my eyes and look around, to see what woke me up. I see Kasha holding her face and I get scared.

"Holy Reshiram! What happened?" I ask. She takes her hand off her face and looks at it, then wipes it in the snow with a quiet, "Damn." There is a small trail of blood running down the left side of her face. She just laughs at my panicked face.

"Remind me never to try and wake you up from your nightmares," she says, "Damn, girl! You got one nasty left-hook." I look down at my knuckles and see a few drops of blood on them. I _just_ realize that they hurt.

"Kasha I am so sorry! I…I-," she cuts me off with a wave of her hand.

"It's okay Rin," she says, digging a rag out of her backpack, "you didn't know what you were doing. You were caught up in your nightmare." She wipes the blood off her face and sticks the rag back into her bag.

"That must've been one hell of a nightmare. You were screeching like a Misdreavus and tossing around all over your side of the campfire. When I tried to wake you up, ya slugged me like you were going for the championship title." Her eyes are full of concern, which just makes me feel worse. _She could be a little more worried about herself! I slugged her for Arceus' sake!_ I think to myself.

"Just what were you dreaming about?" she asks. I stare into what's left of our dying fire and rub my knuckles. I shudder at the thought of that dream. Hammond vowed to make my life a living Hell. I know it was just a dream, but it felt so real. His anger, his threats. They felt insanely realistic.

"Rin?" Kasha says worriedly.

"I don't really want to talk about it," I reply softly.

"Okay," she says, "I'm right here if you ever need me." With that she returns to her sleeping bag and is asleep in a couple of minutes. _I've known Kasha for one day, and she's already such a good friend. She's already worried about me. Why? _I stare up at the stars overhead and try to see what constellations are out tonight, but I can't. It's too cloudy. I sigh and stare at the fire once more. I feel a soft, furry body lay down next to me and I look to see Shade lying next to me. _When did he come out of his pokéball? _I wonder. He stares at me with his ruby eyes and simply lays his head in my lap. I pet his head, carefully avoiding his scythe-like horn.

"So, Shade. Were you the Absol I saw that day in Eira?" I ask softly.

"_Yes_," he replies.

"What were you doing there anyway?"

"_I was trying to warn you. Every Absol tries to warn people of disasters, but we hardly ever make it in time._" He explains, sadly.

"So, you haven't told Kasha yet?"

"_No. It's your secret. Besides, she can't speak to pokémon like you,_" he says with a small smile.

"So you knew my house was going to blow up?"

"_No. I just knew something bad was going to happen._"

"Can you ever tell what's going to happen?"

"_No._"

"I miss home."

"_You aren't the first. Kasha misses the Islands too._"

"You really care for her, don't you?"

"_Yes. She's a good person._"

"I know." I say with a small sigh, "I just wish there was an easy way to tell her all about myself, but I don't want her to be in danger. I don't know if telling her will keep her safe because she knows what's going on, or if it will just put her in more danger. I don't even know why I agreed to let her travel with me in the first place."

"_The journey you both share is a lonely one. People need other people to stay sane. Those that do not have the comfort of friends, at least one of their own species, often have hearts of stone._"

"I guess you're right. I just wish I knew what Hammond meant when he said, 'Zeta Project'. I wish I knew who my parents were. I wish I knew more about my life. My parents said they quit, that they didn't want to work for an evil man anymore. Just what the hell did they do before they moved to Eira and had me?!" I can feel tears running down my face.

"_Sometimes, the things we feel we need to know, are the best things left buried. Your parents were probably wonderful people to raise a child like you, but everyone has skeletons in their closets. Some just rattle louder than others._"

"I just can't shake this feeling of being watched. Of being hunted. I don't know what to do, Shade."

"_Rin, don't give into despair. Go live your dreams. Kasha and I will be right beside you the whole time. If we end up finding things out about your parents along the way, then that is what happens. I suggest that you keep following your dreams, despite what happened that night in Eira._"

"Thanks Shade." I reply quietly.

"_Why don't you try and get some sleep?_" he says, but I shake my head.

"I don't think I'll be able to sleep after that nightmare. I'll just stay up and watch the fire. I'll make sure it doesn't go out."

"_Alright. But try and fall asleep sometime tonight. It's a long journey to Marn._" He returns to Kasha's side and lies next to her. I look up to see the moon peeking through a hole in the clouds. I watch the clouds move through the night sky, sometimes revealing a few stars, but not enough to trace out the constellations. Sometime during the night I fall asleep again, thankfully not having any more nightmares. When I wake up in the morning, Kasha is already up and going, picking up our campsite. I get out of my sleeping bag and put it away. I put my hat back on, tucking in my bangs this time so no hair sticks out. I look at Kasha to see if she's ready to go, and notice the bruise on her face. Her hair covers most of it, but a small bit pokes through near her eyebrow. I didn't hit her in the eye-That's a relief-more like I got her on the side of her forehead. She looks at me with a smile on her face.

"Quit worrying about me Rin! I'm just fine!" she insists. I open my mouth to apologize once more but she cuts me off.  
"If you're trying to apologize, then I don't want to hear one word." I shut my mouth and simply nod. "Come on, maybe we can make it to Marn before it gets too late." She readjusts her backpack and sets off to the south once again, me following on her heels. We spend most of the day talking about anything and everything. What music we prefer, what games we like, etc. As we head south, the climate starts to change. It gets warmer and the Evergreens aren't the only trees we see. Coniferous trees start to pop up along with more warm-climate berries and bushes. I take off my jacket and stuff it inside my bag. Kasha takes off her sweater and reveals a black t-shirt underneath, stuffing the sweater into her backpack as well. She stretches and turns her face up to the sun.

"Ah! It feels so nice to be in the warmer climate again," she takes a deep breath and lets it out, "There may still be snow on the ground, but it's finally getting warmer. I don't know how you lived in the north your whole life, Rin, but I know for a fact that I will not!" She and I laugh and continue on our way.

"I don't know how you breathe down here," I say, "The air is so thick! Nothing like the nice, clear air we have up north."

"Get used to it girly. Just wait until we get to the Islands," Kasha laughs, "You'll probably breathe like a fish!" I notice a vehicle speeding up the road towards us, kicking up dirt behind it. I point it out to Kasha and she studies it as well. As it gets closer, it reveals itself to be a man on a motorcycle. When it gets really close it stops next to us and the man jumps off. He wears the blue and green uniform of the Alamar Police Force.

"Hello ladies, hope your morning is pleasant," he says politely, if a little hurried.

"Good morning Officer," Kasha says and I stay silent, giving him a polite smile.

"Going south? To Marn?" He asks.

"Yes sir," Kasha answers.

"Listen, have you seen this girl in your travels? She went missing recently," He says as her pulls out a piece of paper, with my picture on it! Luckily it's a badly drawn sketch artists rendering. It shows me with my long hair and the outfit I was wearing the day I fled Eira. I pull down my hat as if shielding my eyes from the sun and lean in, like I'm studying it for future reference. Kasha looks at it as well. I can see her eyes widen slightly, but she remains calm.

"Can't say I have, sir. What happened?" She asks.

"All we know is that she used to live near Eira and her house was destroyed. We are currently looking for her so we can figure out what's happened. If you see her, call the Police Headquarters, or tell the nearest authority figure like an Officer Jenny or Nurse Joy. They'll repot it to us. Her name is Rin Amsel, if you run into her, try and persuade her to go to the nearest Police Station. Good day ladies." With that he jumps back onto his motorcycle and speeds north. I keep my eyes focused on my feet, a blush spreading across my face.

"Rin, I think you have a little explaining to do," I can hear the hurt in her voice, "You're lucky that Officer was in a hurry and not the sharpest tool in the shed."  
All I can think of to say is, "Fuck." _And I just talked to Shade about this._ I think to myself as I start to explain my story to Kasha as we keep walking south.

**Sorry this took so long guys! I had a little trouble getting enough time on my computer to get it all typed out. Sorry it's so short too, but it needs to end here, otherwise the next chapter will be even more out of place.**


	6. Pickpockets and Missions

?'s POV

I am waiting patiently for my target to pass the alley I am hiding in, trying to stay quiet. Lopunny beside me is similarly on edge. The man we are waiting for is taking forever to exit the lab. I waste a few minutes playing with Lopunny's fur, making sure it doesn't have any dirt in it or any other filth. Lopunny always reminds me of my sister, but I can't think about her now, I have a job to do. I watch the lab for another half hour before my target leaves the lab and starts walking in our direction.

"All right Lopunny, get ready. Remember, get as tangled up as you can." Lopunny gives me a nod and prepares herself. We wait until the footsteps of our target are close as can be. Lopunny darts out of the alley, tangling herself up with the old man, making him spill the contents of his bag.

"What- what is this?!" The man yells and I run out of the alley looking breathless.

"Lopunny! There you are! What have you done now?!" I yell, trying to untangle the two, discreetly pocketing various papers into my messenger bag and grabbing a light blue jump drive.

"I am so sorry Sir," I say in a disgustingly apologetic manner, "I was trying to get Lopunny to see if she could find the nearest Department Store and she dashed down this alleyway." I gather the rest of his papers and substitute the light blue flash drive with a blank, identical one of my own. I help the man up when Lopunny stops squirming and untangles herself from the man's legs.

"That's quite alright son, as long as my papers didn't get lost," He smiles at me when I hand them back to him with the decoy flash drive on top.

"Sorry for the trouble, hope you have a nice rest of the day," I say before Lopunny pretends to drag me off. I look back at the old man, seeing him fall for the decoy and walk on, probably going home.

"Good job, Lopunny," I congratulate my pokémon, "Though next time try not to scatter the papers so far." She just pouts at me and I hand over her favorite type of Poffin. She devours it with glee and continues back to base with me. We reach the Jakko Skyscraper and enter through the front door, heading straight for the elevator. Once we enter, it's a long ride to the twentieth floor. The familiar pang of guilt attacks my stomach before fading away. I don't like being a thief, but it's what I'm good at. Besides, Theo and Hammond expect it of me, especially if I want to help them make the world better. I think back to my childhood, something I do regularly when I have too much time on my hands. I reminisce about my sister and our days at the orphanage.

_My sister and I run through the forest, me pulling her along. She trips on a tree root and twists her ankle, immediately she starts to cry. We don't have time for this so I grab her and set her on my back so I can carry her. I continue to run through the trees, dodging all the flying Bug pokémon. The sun is setting by the time we reach a city. I head to the nearest building, hoping for a bed for the night or at least directions to the nearest place we could. My sister has fallen asleep on my shoulder and I enter the brightly lit building. A kind older woman with pink hair and a pink and cream colored pokémon approaches and asks me where my parents are. I don't give an answer, not wanting to be sent back to that horrible house of terrors. She looks at me sadly. _

"_Do you not have a home?" she asks. I jump at this opportunity and nod quickly, "Well you can stay here for the night, but you'll have to sleep in the lobby. All our rooms are taken at the moment." I nod anyways, just glad for a roof over our heads. Nurse Joy (that's her name, she tells me) sets up two beds on the benches in the lobby. _

"_We'll see about bringing you to the orphanage on the morning." She smiles before leaving my sister and me alone. _

I think about that Nurse Joy. To this day, she is one of the few people who ever sees my smile. Not the fake, "I'm just doing this to rob you," smile, the real one with actual feeling. She and my pokémon are the only ones who ever receive a real smile from me anymore. Thinking about smiles sends me into another flashback with my sister.

_My sister comes running around the corner of the yard, crying. I try to comfort her, but the bullies at this orphanage won't leave her alone. They know she's an easy target and so they always go after her. I ask her who did it this time and she tells me it was Neil. That bully never leaves us alone. He's the one who bullied us about our eyes in the first place. _

Since my sister and I are twins, we have pretty unusual eye color pairings. My right eye is green while my left eye is blue, and my sister's eyes are the opposite, green left and blue right.

_I track him down and give him a good punch in the face, even though I'm younger than him by two years. He cries to the headmistress and I get my playground and TV privileges revoked, but I don't care, I got revenge. I return to my sister outside who's stopped crying. She's holding something and petting it. I peek around her shoulder and see a Buneary. I sit down next to her and the small brown pokémon. She smiles and tells me about how Buneary came to comfort her. I grunt and sit back and watch the two of them play. I'm glad my sister found a friend. She doesn't have very many here, and I have none whatsoever. A small furry head butts my elbow and I turn to see a Shinx sitting by me. I give him a roll I stole this morning and he happily devours it. _

"_Aregin you're smiling!" my sister says as she runs up to me, "Did you make a new friend?" I look down at the Shinx, who's fallen asleep at my side. _

"_I think so, Sayuri, I think so," I say quietly, smiling at my sister as well. We may be twins, but she has always acted younger. _

The elevator ding snaps me out of my reverie with my sister. I exit the small box and head straight down the hallway. The employees know who I am, or at least know I am allowed here, because they stay out of my way. I step through the door at the end of the hallway and enter a lavish office. Art from respected artists decorates the walls and a fire crackles in the marble fireplace near a sitting area with a couple of large leather chairs. Across from the sitting area is a large mahogany desk, riddled with papers and various pieces of unfinished trinkets. I set the papers I grabbed from my target on the solid oak coffee table in a neat stack with the jump drive on top. I sit in one of the leather chairs, knowing my boss will show up any second. Lopunny sits beside me on the floor. I hear the door open behind me and I turn to see Theo walking in, his brown, grey-streaked hair mussed up and dark circles under his dark brown eyes. He's about thirty-something, tall as a tree and built just as solidly, which I find funny since he's the resident tinkerer. He loves to make different tools and gadgets for our organization. He takes off his leather trench coat and hangs it by the door, revealing a white turtle-neck underneath. He comes to sit next to me in the other armchair, his brown slacks wrinkling slightly.

"Stay up too late?" I ask in a deadpan. He sends a glare at me and just picks up the notes I stole and reads them. His eyes scan the pages behind his glasses, and I see them do the same to the pages behind them. Despite being such a rash and hasty man, Theo is very thorough. He doesn't like to let anything slip through. When he finishes, he sets the notes back on the table and looks at me.

"You couldn't get anymore?" he asks.

"Not without him noticing," I reply. Theo rubs his eyes, obviously tired out from moving the organization into the Jakko City Skyscraper. It's the tallest building in Alamar, and it was built specifically for our organization. It doubles as a wireless tower, providing communications for most of the wireless transceivers in the region.

"Hammond wants to see you, probably to give you another mission," Theo says, walking over to his desk, bringing the notes and jump drive to scan them into his laptop._ Why does he want to see me? He usually just sends me a text message on my pokénav._ I simply get out of the chair and exit the lavish office. I take the elevator to the top of the building, once again thinking about my sister. _I wonder how she's doing. I haven't seen her since January. I wonder if she's really happy._ I think about the day we were separated. She was adopted and I wasn't. I was always the black Mareep. Never fitting in, never making friends. I was always the loner type. The only friend I ever made at that orphanage was Shinx. He loved to hang around me and since he was the only thing that suffered my rough edges, I liked to play with him as well. He often got into trouble with me, not always being the quietest when we were stealing food from the kitchen. We got better, though, and it got to the point where we could steal a few rolls right from under the cook's nose. When my sister left, we traded our pokémon friends, wanting to keep a piece of each other with us. Buneary became my other best friend and I'm sure Shinx kept my sister out of trouble for the most part. Buneary eventually evolved into Lopunny and the last time I saw my sister, Shinx had evolved into Luxio. The elevator dings, opening straight into Hammond's office. It's just as lavish as Theo's office. It has many paintings hanging on the walls, a few coming from a Gym Leader in the Unova region. The carpet is deep and soft, my brown shoes sinking into it. The furniture is all in dark shades of brown and blue, with very few cream colored accents. Hammond is sitting behind his desk, reviewing various papers and marking things with a red marker. His shaggy light brown hair could really use a cut, but I guess he's got better things to do than take care of his image. His tall stature makes him look like a Mandibuzz, leaning over the desk like that. He clenches his jaw in frustration at whatever he's reading, making the vein on his forehead stand out. I clear my throat, making sure he knows I'm here. He looks up, startling me. One of his amber eyes is milky white, like he's gone blind. He gestures towards the chair in front of the desk. I sit, staring at his blind eye.

"Quit staring," Hammond says gruffly, "It's rude you know."

"I know, but what happened?" I say, for once genuinely curious.

"I was injured," he simply replies, "I have a mission for you. A big one, not like the petty thievery Theo's got you doing." I raise my eyebrows, thinking about the last things I stole.

"Speaking of, why do you need notes on the histories and habits of Legendaries? Everyone knows there are none in Alamar," I say, wanting to know why I had to rob a researcher.

"You don't need to know," Hammond says tersely, making me a little peeved at being left out of the loop, "I want you to travel north, to Kentil. I need you to find and follow a Target. She's got information vital to our organization and I need it back. I want you to befriend her, follow her around if necessary, and get it back. She was last seen in Eira and we are assuming she's gone south, through Kentil and maybe Marn, on the run. Here's you mission facts, and make sure to stop by Theo's gadget vault, you may need some of his trinkets. Don't let your guard down, she's as dangerous as any criminal." Hammond hands me a folder and I open it up to find a picture of a young girl, about my age maybe younger, with raven dark hair that flows down to her small waist and piercing icy blue eyes. Her skin is tan, but not dark and her teeth are white, her canines maybe a bit longer than the average human's. This isn't the usual surveillance camera photo I'm used to, she's smiling and it's in color, making me think it was taken from a photo album or a frame. She's also very tiny, thin, and almost waif-like. I scoff. _She's dangerous? Her?_ I think to myself.

"She's a dangerous target that I need to use Theo's gadgets to find? This _girl_?" I ask Hammond and see his non-blind eye twitch, "What, is she the one that blinded you?" I ask as a joke giving a sarcastic wolf's grin, but Hammond's face gets even more serious, if that's possible.

"Yes, now go," he says simply before returning to studying the papers on his desk. I can feel my expression turn from casual teasing to surprise, Hammond stunning me. I grab the folder and exit his office, riding the elevator to the fifteenth level to grab a few of Theo's trinkets before continuing on to the ground floor. I read the rest of the information on the girl. Apparently she's the daughter of David and Rebbekah Amsel, two researchers that deserted our organization, taking important data with them. They were working on the "Zeta Project" when they ran, apparently moving to the tiny, frostbitten village of Eira to live out their lives in hiding. They got jobs helping the local people with anything and everything. Hammond must have tracked them down and killed them, because it lists them as deceased. My heart feels a single jab of remorse. This organization may be a little extreme at times, but I know they are doing the right thing. I just wish they didn't have to hurt so many people in the process. I suck it up and wipe my face blank of any expression. Emotions like pity and empathy will get me nowhere. I've got to find this girl and get her to tell me where this data is. _Maybe if I pose as a friend for a while? Or maybe I can just pressure the information out of her with blackmail. She running from us for some reason right? Maybe we can come to a compromise. She tells me where the data is and I don't sell her out to Hammond and Theo._ Lopunny and I exit the elevator at the ground floor and we head outside. I return Lopunny to her pokéball and release Salamence.

"Salamence, we've got a long flight ahead of us. Hope you're up to it, 'cause we aren't going to stop." I say. Salamence lets out a roar to show his confidence and I climb onto his back. We take off into the air, heading towards Kentil and my next target.

**Hey all you lovely readers! This wonderfully blunt and slightly rude character comes from the fascinating mind of Silentshadow011. I forgot to give him credit before, but now i'm fixing that little mistake! hope you all enjoy this character as i write with him in the future!**


	7. The Crystal Forest

When I finish telling Kasha my story, her face is a mask of calm, but her eyes tell a different story. Horror and another emotion that I can't quite pin down has turned her grey eyes into storm clouds. I look down at my feet to avoid her stormy gaze, not knowing how she'll react. I watch my feet as we continue walking south. The silence goes on for a few minutes before Kasha surprises me by hugging me.

"Oh, Rin! I don't know what to say other than I'm so sorry!" I'm stunned at her sudden affection, but I return the hug, tears slipping out of the corner of my eyes.

"Thank you Kasha, thank you for understanding," I say, glad my friend could accept my troubled beginning. Kasha releases me and she looks at me like she's seen me for the first time.

"So despite the people hunting you, you still want to go on the Gym circuit?" She asks and I nod.

"It's been a dream of mine ever since I was little," I say, "I don't want to give up because I'm being searched for by the authorities and some group of criminals. I want to be Champion and I want to be a Pokémon Master!" Kasha laughs at my mood swing, going from sad and quiet to determined and full of conviction.

"Come on, Master, let's get to Marn before the sun goes down. I don't want to sleep outside tonight, it smells like a storm and I don't want to get caught in it." Kasha says, confusing me. The sun's shining brightly and it's still warm out. I sniff the air and find the telltale smell of snow on the way. I laugh at my own ignorance.

"And I thought just northerners could smell snow on the wind!" Kasha laughs along with me.

"It's a trick my dad taught me. 'Cept down in the Islands we sniff for rain, not snow," She explains, "It's a nice skill to have. It's kept me out of a few nasty storms in the past." I laugh at the thought of Kasha being caught in a storm, she'd probably look like a drowned Glameow.

"What's so funny?!" she asks in a louder voice than necessary.

"I'm just picturing you tromping through the rain looking like a drowned Glameow," I giggle even more. Kasha shoots me a glare before dissolving into giggles herself. We continue on our way to Marn, enjoying one another's company for the trip. I'm glad that I finally told Kasha about my past since it feels as if a giant weight has been lifted off my chest. We don't see anyone on the road, especially no criminals or police officers. The sun starts to set as we come to the crossroads that will take us south to Marn or west to the Crystal Forest. The Crystal Forest is a large forest filled with trees that are always in a state of thaw. Their branches drip with multi-colored icicles and when the sun sets, it turns into a grand lightshow of different colors.

"So," Kasha says, studying the signs, "Crystal Forest or straight on to Marn? I'm kind of partial to the forest myself, considering the lightshow it becomes at sunset." She pointedly looks at the sun dipping close to the horizon. I think about my options. _Go south and go up against my first Gym or head west and see the Crystal Forest?_

"Let's go into the forest," I say, "Maybe we'll find you a Crysat!" I can see Kasha's eyes light up in possibility.

"Onward!" she yells before dashing off into the forest trail, leaving me behind.

"KASHA! Wait up!" I yell, running after her. I catch up to her quickly, but she's already in full search mode. I follow her as she weaves in an out of the trees, totally ignoring the rainbows of light, created by the myriad of dripping icicles. I wonder at their marvel, the rainbows crossing one another, overlapping and weaving into each other. There are colors here I can't even describe! Blues and Greens making shades only found in the Southern Seas, Reds and Indigos blending to make the most amazing Violets and vibrant Purples. Yellows and Oranges mix to create such warm tones, I feel like I'm sitting at the fireplace in my old home. The trees practically glow like Volbeat and Illumise, in fact, there are a few floating through the branches, doing their courtship dances. The trees hold all sorts of colorful pokémon. Snorunt gather in their nest, hugging one another in warmth. Misdreavus float along on the breeze, their pearl-like necklaces glittering with a ghostly light. The Furret playfully bound through the half melted snow, jumping on one another and running off. The Sableye fade in and out of the shadows, their diamond eyes glittering with the dying light of the sunset. I look around at the beautiful sights, taking in as much as I can. I turn to tell Kasha to look for a minute to see she's gone. I sigh.

"Great, now I'm lost and Kasha probably is as well," I grumble and look around once more to try and find the trail that we followed into the forest. I find no such thing and sigh once more. "Looks like I'll have to track down Kasha." I throw my three pokéballs into the air. Tikeri, Eve and Winter pop out, distracted by the rainbows and the atmosphere.

"Hey guys!" I yell to grab their attention, "I need your help. Kasha and I have gotten separated and she's probably just as lost as I am. Can you help me out and pick up her scent?"

"_Ubetcha Rin!_" Tikeri says putting his nose to the ground. Eve and Winter follow suit, sniffing around the area to find a whiff of Kasha. Tikeri picks up her scent first and barks at me to get me to follow him through the trees. Winter hops on my shoulders, her tail making a nice scarf, and Eve and I follow Tikeri on foot, going around trees and through a lot of bushes. The sun is almost gone when we reach a treeless grove in the forest. Tikeri sits down quickly, panting from the trek through the thick forest.

"We'll stay here for now. Maybe Kasha's already turned back on her trail and is looking for us right now," I tell my companions, sitting next to Tikeri.

"_That's okay with me,_" Tikeri says as he pants, "_I'll be right here in the meantime._" I laugh at my tired Growlithe.

"Don't get _too_ worried Tikeri," I say in response to his laziness. I dig around in my bag for the berries I found yesterday and give some to everyone, not wanting them to collapse out of hunger. After that I dig out my scraps of metal and other bits from the pocket I keep separate just for that. I toy around with them for a little while, to keep my hands busy. I fold the malleable metal into the curves I need and I hook the two metal rods together, making a joint.

"Hey Tikeri, you think you can heat this up a little for me?" I ask and he nods producing a small flame. I hold the end of the joint over the flame until it turns a bright orange, then stick the glowing end on the bottom of the curved piece of metal, using my screwdriver to smooth over the connection, making a bond. I smother it with snow, making it hiss and sputter. I look over the seams with a practiced eye and judge them to be sturdy. I do the same to another joint and curved piece of metal, using Tikeri's flame to bond them together. I test the curved pieces by beding them and am glad to see that they've hardened. The heating and cooling have cemented their shapes and now they won't bendor deform when it takes a beating. I grab the main body of my trinket and hook the free end of the jointed pieces on the inside to the mechanism, or I try to. It's gotten dark and I can't see what I'm doing anymore since the trees above me have blocked out the moon. I see a warm glow to my right.

"Thanks Eve!" I say as I turn to see her and her rings all lit up.

"_Anytime Rin,_" she says contentedly.

"_So what are you doing?_" Winter asks as she sniffs my gadget.

"That's for me to know and you to find out later," I say light-heartedly. Winter lays next to Tikeri and watches as I put together my trinket in the light of Eve's rings. I attach the small spring to the gears in the round main body and then attach the other end of the spring to a key-shaped bit of metal. I grab my thick leather gloves out of my bag and put them on. I put two metal pieces over the spring contraption, closing it into the main body. I have Tikeri heat these up as well, bonding them together and to the body. I dip the whole thing in the snow, melting the snow and making the metal contraption hiss violently. I pick it up out of the snow once it's done hissing and grab a rag out of my bag to wipe off all the soot from heating it up. Once polished, it shines brightly and its true form is revealed to my companions. It's got a round body with a pointed head at the end of a long neck with a long tail trailing behind it. On its back are small pieces of metal sticking up like spines in two rows down the length of its back. It also has four of these spines on the end of its tail, sticking up. Its back legs are bulky and short but its front legs are wide and elegant wings with five, wide, finger-like appendages that are closed for better flight. On its head are two long, triangular pieces of metal around the eyes, sticking up a small bit past its head. It's not very whole yet, considering I haven't sanded down the seams, but anyone would know the shape. It's Lugia, Guardian of the Sea.

"_Wow Rin! It's so elegant!_" Winter says in a small bit of awe. Tikeri tips his head to the side.

"_What is it?_" I laugh at his ignorance. It's too funny to see him lying there with his head sideways and the confused look on his face.

"This is Lugia. He's the Guardian of the Sea and of the Three Legendary Birds," I explain.

"_Okay,_" Tikeri says, finally seeing the shape.

"Now let's see if it works!" I say excitedly, turning the wind-up key in the gadget's back. The key turns with a clicking noise and I let it go once it's all wound up. It flies from my hands, its wings flapping gracefully. It turns in a couple circles, mesmerizing me and my pokémon then it flies off into the bushes. I jump and start to run after it.

"Ow!" I hear from the other side of the bushes. I peek through to see a pale, lean boy, older than me by maybe a couple of years and definitely taller by a good eight inches. He's rubbing his head of shaggy, dirty blonde hair, messing it up further and displacing a small pair of circular glasses. His green eyes are crunched in confusion as he reaches down to pick up my mechanical Lugia. Oddly enough, only his right hand has a red and black fingerless glove on it, the other one is bare. His light hoodie is half black and half white and unzipped over a red shirt with an hourglass on it with the sand falling down. His blue jeans look like they've been through a paper shredder with an especially large hole on his left knee though his black and white, zigzag sneakers look pretty new. He studies my little gadget before looking around and spotting me staring at him from behind a rather large bush. He smiles warmly despite being attacked by my contraption.

"I'm not going to bite," he says with a chuckle, "You can come out from behind the bush." Despite giving off the vibe of a total computer geek, he looks like he's really nice. I exit the bush with my pokémon following behind me. He holds out his hand for a handshake and I shake it.

"I'm Guy, Guy Campbell," he introduces himself.

"I'm Reena Frost, but call me Rin" I say, despite feeling a little scared at meeting this boy late at night… in the middle of the Crystal Forest.

"Really, I won't bite," he says, noticing my shaking hand. I swallow to clear my throat and just nod.

"I don't know, you might," I say, trying to tease. He smiles wider.

"There ya go! Is this little thing yours?" he says, holding up my Lugia that fits his hand perfectly. The tail reaches his wrist and the head rests on the last digit of his middle finger.

"Yes it is, thank you for not crushing it," I say as I take it back, checking for dents and other bumps.

"Now why would I do that? It may have hit me in the head, but I'm not going to crush a perfectly good whatever-it-is," He laughs. I smile as well, finding there's nothing wrong with my trinket.

"Next time, though, you might want to watch where you throw that thing," I laugh as he rubs his head again.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. I was just so excited to give it a test run," I explain, "I wanted to see how it flies, whether I needed to fix the wings or use a different gear."

"Wait, you made that?!" he asks in surprise.

"Yeah, I did. Got a problem with that?" I ask, teasingly angry.

"No! Just curious," he says with a smile. Winter jumps up onto my shoulders and sniffs at Guy.

"_He smells funny, Rin_," she says, being awfully rude.

"He does not Winter! Now be nice!" I scold.

"What?" he asks in confusion.

"She said you smelled funny, and I think she's wrong," I say, looking at her on my shoulder with a pointed look. Guy laughs.

"I wouldn't be surprised if I smelled funny!" he says while laughing, "I haven't been to a town in, like, four days! I'm looking for a Snorunt and I've had no luck in catching one at all! Speaking of capturing, how'd you get a Crysat? I've been in the north for almost a week and I haven't seen one," I laugh at his question.

"Winter you sure do attract a lot of attention," I say to her and she looks like she's going to burst form all her pride, "I met her in the woods outside of Kentil. _She _challenged _me_ to a battle and I caught her right after Eve evolved into an Umbreon." I point out Eve standing at our feet. She purrs up at the tall boy.

"_I like him,_" Eve says, "_He seems to have been raised right, Rin._"

"_Yeah! I like his hoodie! It's almost as unique as your hat!_" Tikeri says, his tongue hanging out of his mouth in true Growlithe fashion. I laugh at Tikeri's silliness.

"What'd they say know, Ms. Speaks-with-Pokémon?" Guy asks after my giggles subside.

"Both Eve and Tikeri like you. Tikeri especially likes your hoodie," I explain, "Though I'd watch out for your danglers if I were you. He has a tendency of breathing fire when excited and he started my hair on fire once!" Guy gives a surprised look to Tikeri, but otherwise doesn't say anything.

"Hey, Guy," I say, grabbing his attention, "Have you seen a girl with white hair around anywhere? Taller than me, but shorter than you and wearing a black t-shirt and dark blue pants?" Guy thinks for a minute, then nods slowly.

"Yeah, I think I have. She was looking for something and she was headed that way," he points to the right, off into the thicker art of the forest.

"Great, now I've gotta go weave through the thickest part of the forest to find her," I say with a grumble, "Thanks for your help!" I start to walk off in the direction he pointed but he stops me.

"Why don't we look for her together?" he asks, "Two heads _are_ better than one." I smile, not wanting to go alone in the first place.

"I think I will take you up on your offer!" I say with a wide grin, "Let's go find Kasha, she's probably even more lost than when we started." Guy nods and follows me in the direction he pointed, Tikeri in front of me, sniffing for Kasha's scent. It starts to snow as we walk, proving Kasha's and my own theories from earlier today. Guy and I walk for another half an hour before we find Kasha, who's wandering around just as lost as we were. I scold her for running off without me and then introduce her and Guy. We walk back to the clearing I made my Lugia in and we set up a campfire. I show Kasha my invention and she studies it like an Aipom with a coconut, it's really amusing to watch. Guy takes an egg out of his bag and checks to see if it's okay, then takes care of his other pokémon. He has two, Woody the Treeko and Buddy the Bidoof. Both are kind and very well taken care of. I drift off to sleep when Kasha and Guy start to talk about what Legendary is the best, or something like that.

**Hey all! hope you like the sudden change in scenery! Guy is brought to you in part by the wonderful mind of gregginator54! Hope ou enjoy him as he hangs out with our heroine and our friend Kasha! See ya next time! **


	8. Cristallium Silva

~~Guy's POV~~

"Not true! A Legendary doesn't have to be a dragon-type to be powerful!" I argue with Kasha, "Just look at Mewtwo! He's one of the most powerful Legendaries out there." Kasha shakes her head, her white hair shines with silver highlights in the firelight.

"He was genetically modified to be the most powerful!" she argues back, "Face it. Out of all the natural born Legendaries, the dragon-types are the most powerful!"

"No they aren't! They always have a second type that makes them even more vulnerable to a different type," I try to reason with Kasha, "Darkrai is very powerful and he's not a dragon-type! He could kick Giratina's ass any day."

"Puh-lease! Darkrai takes one good fighting-type move and he's out like a light," she says as she snaps her fingers for emphasis. "Dialga could smash any other Legendary into the ground!"

"Like Heatran or Regirock? No way, you're delusional!" I hear a small yell from my right. I look to see Rin rolling around in her sleep, her face scrunched up in agony. I get up to go wake her, but Kasha grabs my arm as I try to pass her. I look down at her and she shakes her head, pulling me down to sit next to her.

"What?" I ask a little angrily and definitely confused.

"It's better for your health if you don't wake her," She says solemnly, "Just don't do it."

"Why not? She looks like she's having a nightmare," I point out the obvious, but Kasha just shakes her head again.

"She reacts… violently," she pulls her bangs to the side, showing a bluish-brown bruise on her left temple.

"W-what…?" I stutter.

"I tried to wake her up last night and she slugged me," Kasha explains, "Gotta say, she's stronger than she looks. Our little wisp has got quite a left-hook despite being right-handed." Kasha chuckles a little and I look over at Rin once more. She's still tossing and turning, but not yelling anymore. Rin's Umbreon, Eve, wakes up with a concerned look on her face and snuggles into Rin's arms, calming her down. I sigh and look back at Kasha.

"So she has nightmares often?" I ask.

"I've only been traveling with her for two days, but so far, yeah" Kasha replies, startling me. _They've only traveled together for two days?! They act like sisters for all their worth! _I think in surprise.

"You know what about?" I ask, always curious, "Her nightmare?" Kasha's steel grey eyes show a guarded expression, but she just shakes her head.

"She hasn't told me yet," Kasha says with a ring of truth, but I know she's hiding something. Her eyes dart away too quickly for it to be a truly honest answer.

"Why not?" I ask.

"I don't know, maybe she doesn't want to," Kasha says giving me a look that says 'drop it'.

"Seriously? No clue?" I ask but Kasha sends me a stormy death glare. I give up on the topic that she seems so adamant to ignore. She's not going to tell me anything. I rummage through my bag for my fossil. I take my rag out of my front pocket and polish the surface while I think about what Rin could possibly be dreaming about.

"What's that?" Kasha asks, glad to finally change subjects. I stop polishing and hold it up in the firelight.

"It's my fossil," I reply, "My uncle from Sinnoh sent it to me. He found it in the Underground and thought I would like it for a good luck charm." Kasha studies it further and nods.

"You gonna try and revive it?" she asks.

"I hope I can," I explain, "I've just got to find someplace here in Alamar where I can get it revived." Kasha looks into the fire, probably thinking. I go back to polishing my fossil until there is absolutely no grime left on it. I stow the fossil back into the bag and sit back to enjoy the scenery. The firelight causes the icicles to dance with warm shimmers and glitters. The air is full of sparkles from the dripping ice and refracting light.

"This place is really amazing," I think out loud, "I've been wandering around in here for a few days, but every night it impresses me." Kasha looks at me with a warm smile despite her earlier stormy emotions.

"Yeah it is," she replies, "I wish I could just take a piece of this forest with me, but I don't have a camera and I don't think Rin does either." She pouts and puts her chin on her palms.

"Sorry to disappoint, but I don't have one either," I hold up my hands in apology. She sighs and looks up at the small patches of sky that's visible through the trees.

"I can't wait to describe this to my parents," she says with a smile, "They're going to love it."

"Well I hope they find it amazing as we do," I say. Kasha climbs into her sleeping bag.

"Night Guy," She says sleepily, "I'm still counting the end of our argument a win, though."

"You are not!" I say in fake anger, "I was the last one to say anything. If anything, _I_ win the argument."

"Yeah right," she says with a yawn, "Like I'm letting you win any arguments." I chuckle and burrow into my own sleeping bag, optimistic about tomorrow.

~~Rin's POV~~

I wake up to a glittering morning and squint at the bright light. Eve must have sensed I was having nightmares in the middle of the night, 'cause she's laying right next to me. I remember my nightmare last night and shiver. The same one I've been having lately, except this time Hammond didn't talk to me, he just shot me… with a gun…. I shudder once again and wake up Eve. She looks at me with concerned eyes and I give her a hug to let her know I'm all right. Tikeri and Winter are snoozing next to each other and cuddling. It's so cute, I forget my nightmare for a few moments, but not for long. Every night that I'm out in the wilderness I have that same, awful dream. The only time it goes away, it seems, is in town. Every night a death threat, every night reliving the destruction of my home, every night the confusion of finding out my parents are not who they said they were… it's enough to drive someone insane!

I get up and restart the fire, knowing that dwelling on the past will do nothing but worry me. I said I was going to move on and become Champion and that is what I'm going to do. I have to stop thinking about the past and just move forward. Kasha wakes up with a groan and a few cracks of her joints, getting a small laugh out of me.

"So Rin, what's for breakfast?" She asks as she stands up to stretch.

"Whatever we've got left in our bags," I reply, "I didn't really expect to stop in the Crystal Forest so I've got a few instant soups left… and sugar? How did that get in there?" I look confusedly at the small bag of sugar that was hiding in the bottom of my bag, "What about you?" Kasha digs through her bag for a minute then pulls out a handful of berries and half a loaf of bread.

"That's about it," she says.

"Well Guy should have some food on him. We could make a potluck," I muse and look over at Guy. He's still sleeping and all tangled up in his sleeping bag. His mouth is hanging wide open with a little bit of drool hanging out. Both Kasha and I laugh at his expense, too funny to do anything else.

"Come on, maybe I can whip something up before he wakes up," I say as my giggles end. Kasha hands me the bread and berries and I pull my bowl and pot out of my bag.

"Seriously Rin, how much stuff can you fit in there?" Kasha asks with a confused and amazed look on her face.

"I don't know," I admit, "I've never filled it up!" Kasha laughs with amazement and I giggle along with her.

"Wow, we'll just have to see when we journey, huh," She says, poking me in the ribs with her elbow. I smile as I dump her berries into the bowl and my soup into the pot with a few handfuls of snow. (The clean kind, don't worry. I know the dangers of yellow snow!) I put the soup over the fire to cook and dig a wooden spoon out of my bag to mash up the berries into a jam. Kasha just gives me a look and I stick my tongue out at her. When the berries are fully mashed I add a small bit of the sugar to help bind it together and make it sweeter.

"Whatcha doing?" I hear Guy's voice say from right behind my ear. I jump at the unexpected voice, my hand jerking up and I hear the 'whap!' of the wooden spoon smacking Guy. I look behind me to see him take a step back and rub the jam off his face.

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean-" Guy cuts me off as he licks some of the jam off his hand.

"Mmm. Good stuff," He says with a smile, "Kasha was right, you do react violently." My mouth hangs open and I just gape at Guy like a Magikarp. He laughs and sits next to me.

"Hey I warned you," Kasha says, "You didn't have to sneak up on her." Guy's smile gets wider.

"I wanted to test your hypothesis," He says in a matter of fact tone, "For all I know you could have knocked your head into a tree branch and just didn't want me taking advantage of a poor, innocent, little girl." Both Kasha and Guy laugh at his teasing, but I blush furiously.

"Hey! I am not little! I'm fourteen, thank you very much!" I yell at the two of them, making them laugh even harder.

"Face it Rin, you're the youngest out of all of us!" Kasha says, "I'm seventeen and Guy is sixteen." Kasha actually snorts a couple of times when she laughs, cracking my own self-control and making me laugh a little as well.

"All right, fine," I admit, "I'm short and tiny. Now can we please move on? I'm starved!" Kasha and Guy eventually stop laughing and I pull the soup off the fire and serve it out to everyone. Current, Shade, Woody, Buddy, Eve, Winter, and Tikeri all get some as well.

"Well now that we're pretty much out of food," Kasha says as she finishes off her piece of bread with jam, "We should probably head on to Marn. We need provisions and you and I got to challenge the Gym."

"You're going to challenge the Gyms?" Guy asks and I nod, "Well I've already beaten Marn's Gym. I could give you a few pointers if you'd like." I smile.

"That would be amazing!" I say, "We don't even know who the Leader is, let alone which kind of pokémon they use." Kasha looks a little snubbed when I cast a pointed look at her.

"I was in a hurry, okay!" she complains and I laugh.

"I was just teasing," I say as I laugh, "Payback." Kasha just pouts and gets to cleaning up. I stand up and wash out the pot and bowls with a bit of snow.

"Well, the _Leaders_ are Cinder and Aqua, they specialize in water and fire-types," Guy explains as he puts out the fire, "They're pretty good for being so young, prodigious, even, but they're like night and day. Cinder is really calm and Aqua is easily angered." Guy chuckles at a memory. "If you can get them bickering, then you've got them in the bag," He says.

"Wait, water _and_ fire-type?" I ask in confusion, "Two different types? I thought all Gyms just specialized in one."

"Yeah, I thought so too," Guy responds, "Everywhere else, like Kanto, Sinnoh and all the other regions, the Gyms specialize in one type. After I beat the Cinder and Aqua they told me that most Gyms here in Alamar are double typed Gyms. Crazy, aint it?" _Wow, now it's going to be double hard to beat the Gyms,_ I think as I stuff my pot and bowl inside my bag and put it on my shoulder. Winter hops up on my other shoulder and Tikeri and Eve trot at our feet. Current and Shade are currently (see what I did there?) snoozing in their pokéballs and Woody is relaxing in the bend of Guy's messenger bag with Buddy in his respective pokéball. We head off into the woods, heading west to reach the road we were traveling on before.

"That's… unexpected… Well then, we'll just have to be careful," I say, starting to strategize possible battle techniques with my pokémon, "What are you going to do Guy?"

"Well, I was hoping to find a female Snorunt for my team, that's why I'm so far north," He says.

"Why a _female_ Snorunt?" I ask.

"Well, I'm studying the different ways pokémon evolve," He explains, "I want to become a Pokémon Professor when I'm older and traveling through Alamar will help my research."

"Why Alamar?" Kasha asks.

"Because Alamar has species from each and every region, it's very diverse," Guy says, "Since Johto doesn't have pokémon from, say, Sinnoh or Unova, Alamar was my first choice."

"So you're from Johto?" Kasha questions.

"Yes, New Bark Town to be exact," Guy says, "Professor Elm has his main laboratory there and I used to help him once in a while. So one day, when I saved up enough money, I asked Professor Elm for a pokémon so I could follow in his footsteps and study here in Alamar. He gave me Woody and we set off. Why the third degree?"

"Just curious," I say.

"Well, you know, curiosity killed the Delcatty," He replies with a teasing smile.

"Yes, but satisfaction brought it back," I retort and Kasha laughs.

"Well then, Ms. Smarty Pants," Guy says, "Would you mind if I travel with you and Kasha?"

"Well, sure, why not?" I say, "But why ask me? Kasha's the oldest."

"Because Kasha said she was following you," He responds.

"I did not!" Kasha whines, "We are traveling together! No one is following anyone!" I laugh at Kasha's indignant nature.

"Yes, Kasha, we know," I tease. We walk through the forest for a while, enjoying the sights of the icicle laden branches and of the wild pokémon running to and fro underneath and above the trees.

"Hey Kasha, I don't think a storm hit last night," I say, noticing the lack of much new snow.

"No, I'm never wrong about storms," Kasha says, "I think that it's just all been stopped by the trees. They're so intertwined that none of the snow has fallen through yet."

"Oh," I reply, "That's both nice and weird." We continue to walk and a pod of Snorunt crosses our path.

"Finally! Some Snorunt!" Guy shouts and sends out Buddy, his Bidoof, "All right Buddy, let's get things started, use Defense Curl, then Rollout!"

Buddy curls himself into a ball and then launches his rolling form at the Snorunt at the end of the pack. The Snorunt shouts in surprise and blows a Powder Snow at Buddy. He slows down a bit, but keeps on going, connecting with a powerful slam. The Snorunt uses Double Team, creating a mirage of Snorunt doubles all over, surrounding our group.

"Buddy, aim your Rollout through all of them, domino style!" Guy orders as Buddy stops to try and figure out which one is real. Buddy launches himself into a Rollout again and takes out each of the fakes, hitting the real Snorunt hard. The Snorunt blows an Icy Wind at Buddy, dealing a lot of damage.

"Buddy, let's end this with Headbutt!" Guy orders and his Bidoof runs towards the Snorunt, slamming his head into her with full force. Snorunt stumbles and flinches, giving time Guy enough time to throw a pokéball. It shakes in the snow for a few seconds, then makes the victorious click that signals a successful capture.

"Yes! We did it Buddy!" Guy shout in victory, "We finally caught a Snorunt!" Buddy happily cheers with Guy as he picks up his newfound friend and releases it from the pokéball. The Snorunt pops out with a small, shy hello.

"Hello Snorunt," Guy says as he smiles, "I think I'll name you Yuki, do you like it?" The Snorunt nods vigorously and practically smiles. But then again, they always seem to be frowning, so not really.

"Well now you've caught your Snorunt," I say and Guy returns Yuki to her pokéball.

"Yeah, I guess you two were my good luck charms," Guy puts his arms around me and Kasha, though quickly retreating before Winter can sink her claws into his hand.

"Yeah right," Kasha snorts, "I still haven't even found a Crysat to catch yet. Rin and I are not lucky."

"Speak for yourself!" I yell at her,"Hey Winter, why _are_ all of you Crysat so hard to find?"

"_I thought you'd never ask!_" She says with a grin as she all but disappears, her toothy smile hanging in the air like the old storybook character from the tale my mother used to read to me. Kasha and I gasp while Guy's eyebrows simply migrate into his bangs. Her smile dances and her eyes reappear, full of an impish light, before the rest of her flickers back into existence.

"Huh." I say in a stunned tone, "I guess _that_ explains _that_." Winter laughs and we continue walking to the west.

"That's, like, really cool," Kasha comments, "No wonder I haven't seen any! At all! Just, poof, and you're gone." Winter smiles and purrs, loving the attention.

"So all of you Crysat can do that?" Guy asks, instantly pulling a notebook and pen out of nowhere.

"Where'd you get that?" I ask in surprise but Guy just ignores me.

"_Yes, we can all do that,_" Winter says, exasperatedly. Guy just look at me with a lost expression and I sigh.

"She said yes," I paraphrase, "Anyway! Let's get going! I want to make it to Marn by sundown tonight!" I race ahead, closely followed by Kasha with Guy catching up, stuffing his little notebook back into his bag. I exit the trees to see the green landscape from yesterday blanketed in white, glittering snow. I shiver and pull my jacket out of my bag. Kasha does the same with her sweater.

"Wow, I guess you were right Kasha," I say, taking in the blankness of it all.

"Told ya so," she gloats. I point to the signpost.

"There's the sign from yesterday," I say, "Now let's get goin!" Guy laughs at my enthusiasm and follows Kasha and I as we head on down the road to Marn.

**Hey guys! I know this took me forever to write, but now that school's started, I don't exactly have a lot of time to sit and write. So from now on, updates will be slower on both "Rin" and "Fugitive"(My other story!) so you'll just have to be patient with me. Till next time, Read On!**


	9. Marn at last, Marn at last

Aregin's POV

Salamence lands with a muted thud as I hop off and return him to his pokéball. My first thought about this place is about how cold it is. I quickly dart into the nearest clothing shop, snagging a sturdy black jacket off the nearest rack and paying the cashier before exiting out into the glaring white landscape. I guess it snowed recently, and pretty heavily too. The shopping town is blanketed by a good foot of snow and many of the stores are closed until the plows can get through. _I wonder where she would be hiding_… I think to myself as I scan the faces of the unusually large crowd in the town plaza. _She could be anywhere in this town_. I travel up and down the sidewalks, looking for a pair of icy blue eyes beneath black bangs. Most of the people here look the same, which makes my job a lot easier. Everyone's blonde and has normal blue or brown eyes. After exhausting all chances of seeing her in the plaza, I head down the road of shops.

I dart in and out of the various stores, hardly anyone is shopping today, most are just enjoying the snow, I guess. The closest I can find to my target is a woman with tea green eyes and black hair just as long as hers. I almost thought it was her, until I saw the child clinging to her leg.

I _should_ check the Pokémon Center now. She wouldn't be stupid enough to leave Eira without a Pokémon or two. Maybe she even tricked the Professor Cypress into giving her one…

The doors of the Pokémon Center open with a woosh and I stroll in, noticing the lack of many Trainers around. None of the Trainers that lounge in the lobby are even close to being my target. All of them are young men, except one young girl with bright blonde hair-definitely not my target. The Nurse Joy for this Center smiles warmly as she welcomes me.

"Hello, what can I do for you?" She asks when I saunter up to her counter.

"I'm looking for a cousin of mine," The lie quickly forming itself along with a fake smile, "She's left on her journey and isn't answering her phone. I was wondering if she came through here recently. She's about yay tall and has black hair with icy eyes." I hold my hand just above shoulder level. Nurse Joy thinks for a minute before snapping her fingers.

"Yes I believe I've seen her just recently, she stayed two nights ago," She says, "Hope you find her soon! Oh! You should know that she cut her hair the day she arrived. Too bad, it was so pretty too." She smiles once more before I leave and make my way back out into town.

"So she's trying to hide now," I mumble to myself, "Trying to blend in with the crowd. Two days…" _How far could she have gone in two days? _I dig out Salamence's pokéball and release him out into the cold air. He shivers in the cold before looking at me with contempt, as if to say 'Why is it so damn cold?' I merely wave away his question and hop on his back.

"We're going to Marn, head south Salamence," I order. Salamence roars once before taking off with a quick beat of his large, red wings, turning south once he's high off the street of the snow covered town.

Rin's POV

"Come on guys! We're finally here!" I laugh and race through the town entrance, "Kasha, we can finally challenge the Gym!" Kasha chuckles and Guy smirks at my excited glee.

"Hold your Ponyta, the Gym will still be there tomorrow," Kasha says, "I want to check out the restaurants first. I'm starved!" Guy laughs with Woody and pulls out a small blue book.

"Well, there's the Grinning Gengar, a small family run place not too far from here," He reads, "Says here that they're famous for their eerie fast service and amazing desserts. Or there's the Delcattería, they're a restaurant that allow battles while patrons wait for their food."

"I think my Pokémon have battled enough for today," I say, smiling down at Eve and Tikeri, "How many kids challenged me before we got here? Like ten?" Kasha snorts.

"You wish, you only battled five," She retorts, "_I_ took care of the other three and Guy took down the last two."

"I still beat more than you," I tease. Kasha turns a bright shade of red and Guy laughs.

"_Riiiin when can we get some fooood_?" Tikeri whines, "_I'm hungry_!" Eve smacks him upside the head, using her height to her advantage.

"_You won't starve Furball_," She scolds, "_We'll get there soon enough._" Tikeri growls and mutters to himself. Winter laughs down at the two from my shoulder.

"_You are certainly the most interesting group I've come across in a long while_," She states, "_Now I really know I'm going to enjoy traveling with you_."

"Thanks Winter, I'm glad you're so keen on staying with us," I respond and she purrs delightedly, "Let's go to the Grinning Gengar." Guy nods and Kasha strides right past me down the large street. We follow quickly behind and I marvel at the large city of Marn.

Near the outside of the city-where we are-are all the smaller buildings. Homes, small businesses and quaint neighborhoods dominate. Near the center, what I can see of it, are tall skyscrapers and large buildings for who knows what. I can see the red roof of the Pokémon Center from here.

"So, how tough do you think Cinder and Aqua are gonna be?" Kasha asks.

"I don't know. I hope they aren't too tough. I'd like to win on our first try."

"Oh come on! We need at least a little challenge!"

"You'll be glad to know, they're no pushovers," Guy interrupts, "They're pretty good for being so young. I nearly lost against them."

"Huh, well that's great! Now let's get to that restaurant, I'm starved!" Kasha yells before dashing down the street in front of us, nearly plowing over a woman carrying groceries.

"Kasha, wait up!" I yell and catch up to her, "We'll get there soon enough!"

"Actually, we're here," Guy says from behind us, panting from the run to catch up with us. I look at the restaurant and see a small black painted building decorated with purple awnings, curtains and a wooden sign depicting a smiling Gengar.

"Good, now let's get something to eat," Kasha says before reaching for the door handle, letting herself in with the rest of us following.

Inside is just as unique as the outside. The lights burn dimly and the tables are all covered in nice violet tablecloths with candles situated in the middle. Royal blue and deep purple accent the chairs and rugs with a small bit of gold flashing here and there.

"Wow," I say breathlessly, "I can't believe this is a family run place." I look around and see a few couples at the tables and one woman dining alone in the corner. An elderly woman exits from a door and walks up to us with a large grin, her silvery hair pulled back into a professional bun.

"Hello children. Are you here for lunch?" She asks and Kasha answers for us.

"You bet. We hear you're the best around these parts." The old woman laughs and adjusts her glasses.

"Well I don't know about that, dearie," She smiles, "But I'd say our food is pretty good. Have a seat wherever you like and I'll send out someone to help you." We take our seats at a corner booth and I look around at the room again. The one lady in the corner interests me. Her royal blue hair extends all the way down her back in ringlets and somehow it seems to shimmer in the candlelight, faintly, but it does. She looks lonely sitting by herself, yet not somehow, like she's waiting for someone.

"Hey Rin!" Kasha pushes my shoulder to get my attention, "Did you even hear me?"

"What?" I ask, snapping out of my focus. Kasha shakes her head in exasperation.

"I asked if you had any clue about that big bird the first day we traveled together," She says, "I think it could have been a rare Pokémon. Maybe even a Legendary!"

"There are no Legendaries in Alamar," Guy and I say in unison. I laugh and Guy chuckles while Kasha pouts.

"You never know! That thing was a perfect match for Articuno when I looked in my pokédex," She argues, "What if it was? That would be so cool!"

"Yeah right, and my grandmother was the Queen of Shiba," I retort, "Everyone knows that Legendary Pokémon all live in the other regions. We've had this conversation before Kasha."

"They may not live here, but it would be pretty cool if you two did actually see Articuno," Guy says, "It would be like the ultimate good luck charm. You want to hear something cool?" Kasha nods vigorously and I nod too.  
"I've heard that the Legendaries can take on human form and they walk among us, just for kicks!"

"Where'd you hear that?" Kasha asks.

"Professor Elm was reading it out of a dusty old tome once," He explains, "I think it was from an elder in Celestic Town. It was really neat."

"Cooool!" Kasha says, "For all we know they could be walking among us right now!" I laugh at her over dramatic tone.

"Yeah, that would be amazing, but like I said earlier, there are no Legendaries in Alamar," I scold, "No unique Legendaries for our region like Palkia is for Sinnoh, or Rayquaza is for Hoenn. No traveling Legendaries either, like Entei or Latias."

"Arceus, you're such a buzzkill Rin!" Kasha pouts. Just then, a petite lady appears at our table to hand us the menus and get our drink orders.

After she leaves I find my eyes drawn back to the blue haired woman. The kind, older woman that greeted us has taken up a spot across from her at the table and she is talking animatedly. The lady in blue smiles at whatever she is saying and points to a book lying open on the table. The older lady takes a look before shaking her head sadly, the lady in blue frowns and closes the book. The older woman gets up to leave, but for some reason I can't take my eyes off the younger woman. She looks back down at her book with a crease between her eyebrows, like she's condemning the book for being wrong.

"RIN!" Kasha yells.

"What?!" I yell back. Guy laughs his butt off, Kasha looking at me like I've lost my marbles. I look down in embarrassment and notice our drinks have arrived. "When did these get here?" Guy just laughs harder, tears forming at the corners of his eyes.

"That's what I was trying to get your attention for!" Kasha scolds, "They floated over here! Just floated, like they were being carried by an invisible person." I look back down at the glass in front of me and make a sound of surprise.

"Cool," I respond.

"Cool? Is that really all you have to say?" Kasha acts like I've just kicked a Lillipup. "Our glasses just floated over here out of thin air and all you say is 'cool'."

"Well, yeah," I answer, not really seeing where Kasha is going with this, "It's called the Grinning Gengar for a reason Kasha." She blinks, temporarily halted in her argument. "The owners probably have ghost types hiding in the shadows to serve the orders when they are ready."

"Like I said, killjoy," Kasha retorts.

"Technically you said buzzkill," Guy points out. Kasha just groans and puts her head on the table, ignoring the two of us. I smile at Guy and look at the menu. It's nothing fancy, but it is all the kind of good, homemade kind of food that will leave you feeling satisfied. The younger woman that took our drink orders returns and Kasha stops moping long enough to order, but goes right back to it when she stops talking.

"Is she okay?" Our waitress asks.

"Yeah, she was just at the failing end of logic," Guy responds with a smile before ordering and I do the same. The waitress shrugs off Kasha's foul mood when she turns to go back to the kitchen.

"You know Kasha, if it makes you feel any better, it could have been Articuno that we saw," I say, "I don't know of any other Pokémon that look like that." Kasha lifts her head up off the table and looks sideways at me.

"Really? You're not just saying that to make me feel better?" She asks suspiciously. I hold up my middle three fingers and put my other hand over my heart.

"Scout's honor," I smile at Kasha.

"Fine, I guess it does make me feel better," She teases. Guy starts talking about something or other, but I find my eyes drawn back to the lady in blue… again. Something about her commands attention. I'm surprised Kasha and Guy haven't been looking her way. I don't know if it's the way her hair sparkles faintly, or if it's just her unique features; short, round nose and wide molten chocolate eyes with skin so pale it almost looks blue. She's returned to reading her book, although with an air of disappointment, and her eyes scan the page as if looking for a crucial detail.

I look back to my friends to find them talking animatedly about Legendaries again, so I figure I can stare at the woman for a while longer. Looking back, I notice the detail that had been escaping me for so long. The woman is glowing, as if lit by an inner fire of a golden tone. It is too faint to notice right away, but in the dark restaurant, it stands out as faintly as the shimmers in her hair.

The lady in blue looks up from her book and catches my eye, causing me to jump and blush in embarrassment. She studies my face, her brown eyes flicking back and forth over my features before she smiles slightly. She continues to look at me as I cannot tear my gaze away from her. Her aura of gold and her unusual features have trapped my eyes, I couldn't look away if I tried. There is something about her that seems familiar, it's so small of a feeling I wonder if I'm just imagining things.

"Yay! Food's here!" Kasha says happily and I somehow turn my gaze back to our table. The dishes we've ordered arrive on floating plates, as if served by the air itself. I know it's just a group of ghost types hidden in the shadows of the restaurant, but it is pretty amazing how fluidly the Pokémon deliver the plates. Right before they leave, a Haunter materializes next to a Gengar and they both smile and wave before returning to the kitchen.

All of our Pokémon besides Current and Shade have taken up residence under the table, Eve actually sitting on my feet as she digs into her food.

For now I'm drawn into the delicious food. The soup I've ordered is wonderful, and judging by the sounds Kasha and Guy are making, theirs is wonderful as well. Before I know it, everyone has eaten their fair share and Kasha has drawn me back into the conversation about our Gym challenge.

"Fire and water, fire and water, fire and water," She toys with her fork, flipping it between her fingers, "What can we do about fire and water…"

"You know, neither you nor I have any type advantages against Cinder or Aqua," I say, "I'd go so far as to say we're at a complete disadvantage."

"Not if we use Shade and Eve," Kasha explains, "They wouldn't be at an advantage, but neither would they be vulnerable."

"Maybe, but what if Cinder has a Monferno? Or a Combusken?" I retort, "Then we're screwed."

"Come on Rin! Ya gotta be optimistic!" She smiles and thumps my back, "Just remember, we saw Articuno the day we met. That's gotta be worth something!"

"Yeah, sure," I roll my eyes and pet Eve under the table, "So what Pokémon do they have?" I ask Guy.

"That would be cheating," He replies with a smile.

"Pleeeaaase?" I pout, giving him my best Lillipup eyes I can manage.

"No," He says with a chuckle, "And no amount of begging will get me to tell you."

"Party pooper," Kasha pouts. I laugh and find my eyes drawn back to the table of the blue lady, but she's gone. I guess she's moved onto her own business.

"Hey Guy, anything else about Marn in that little book of yours?" Kasha asks, "We should see the rest of the city."

"What about our challenge?" I ask, maybe a little bit whiny.

"It will still be there tomorrow," Kasha says with a teasing smile.

"Sure, there's a lot of things in here about every city," He explains, "Mostly just restaurants and main attractions though."

"So what's it got about Marn?" I ask. Guy pulls the book out of his bag, puts on his glasses and flips through the pages.

"Well, there's this restaurant, the Delacttería, Shuppet's Toy Store. There's the Junkyard, the Gym, of course, and Artisan's Square… hang on a minute." Guy's eyebrows crease his forehead as they lower in confusion. He readjusts his glasses and reads the page again.

"What's up?" Kasha asks. Guy looks up from his book with an impressed smirk.

"Says here that there are two Artisan Squares in Alamar," He explains, "One here in Marn and one in Análi. It says that they are the two centers of art in Alamar. Hm, neat."

"Two centers of art?" I say, "How can there be two centers?" Guy smiles and closes the book with a snap, returning his glasses to the top of his head.

"How would you like to go all the way from the Islands to Marn to see the center of art? Or from Eira to Análi?" He teases, "I guess it's most likely for the sake of convenience."

"Weird," Kasha mumbles.

"So says the girl with white hair and silver highlights," I mock playfully.

"I'll have you know the silver was a fashion choice," She remarks pridefully.

"But the white wasn't?" I tease back. Kasha just sticks her tongue out at me and sits back.

"Well I don't know about you, but I'm ready to go."

"Yeah, we should hit the road. Let's go to the junkyard!"

"Why the Junkyard?" Guy asks. I smile brightly and dig out the mechanical Lugia I made out in the Crystal Forest.

"I need more scraps to make more of these!" I reply, "I bet I can sell it for a pretty penny down at Artisan's Square"

"But it's so neat! Why would you want to sell it?" Kasha asks.

"Well, I make things for other people," I explain, "Why would I make things just for me to keep? What good is making something if you can't make someone else's day a little better with it?" Kasha seems to think about what I said before nodding slowly.

"That makes sense I guess, but you're sure you want to get rid of it?"

"I can always make another."

"I don't think I've met anyone quite like you Rin," Guy says, "You make something totally amazing, then give it up without a second thought." I blush at the compliment and pick at the spines on my trinket.

"Guy, you broke her!" Kasha laughs and slings her arm around my shoulders, "Don't worry Rin, we'll go straight to Artisan's Square after we hit up the Junkyard for your spare parts, okay?"

"Okay, now let's get going, we got only half a day left!" I scoot out of the booth and Eve, Tikeri and Winter follow. On the way out, we pass the table that the blue lady was sitting at. Something glittering in the candlelight catches my eye. A brown leather covered book with gold leaf lettering sits on the table. She must have left it there by accident. I quickly scoop it up and hurry after Guy and Kasha who are already talking to the older woman at the entrance, settling out bill most likely.

"All right children, you have a nice day," The old woman says as my friends make for the door. I tap the woman on the shoulder and hold up the book.

"Ma'am, I think the young woman you were talking to earlier left this here," I explain. The old woman tightens her lips and frowns. Her eyes roam over my face as if searching for something, they betray an underlying emotion of suspicion that worries me. She opens her mouth as if to say something, but closes it and taps her finger on her lips.

"Ma'am? Are you all right?" I ask. She seems to shake herself out of her mood and smiles at me.

"Oh yes dear, I'm quite fine," She answers, "If she forgot it here then it wasn't important. You can keep it if you like, it's just an old book full of fairytales and legends." She waves her hand at me dismissively, shooing me off. "You might want to catch up to your friends, dearie, if you don't want to be left behind." She smiles once more before walking quickly back to the kitchen. I stare after her with the book hanging in my hand.

"What just happened?" I ask my Pokémon.

"_I have no idea, but we need to __**go**_!" Tikeri says, "_Guy and Kasha left without us!_" He tugs at my shorts to get me to follow him out the door.

"_You're so impatient, furball_!" Eve scolds, "_They aren't going to leave us behind_." I giggle and look at Winter, who's made herself at home around my neck. She's grinning widely, looking back and forth between Tikeri and Eve.

"What's so amusing?" I ask quietly. Her smile broadens.

"_They fight like and old mated pair_," She snickers. I roll my eyes and break up my two friends.

"Come on guys, let's go catch up to Guy and Kasha," I say and we head out of the restaurant to jog down the street. Kasha and Guy have stopped to wait for me and Guy teases me about being slower than a Slowpoke. I just jab him lightly and continue walking towards the center of the city.

From earlier the city looked like it was all centered in the middle, but as we near the sky scrapers, Marn almost looks like a terraced mountain. The buildings jump in uniform height, from small to larger and larger as they congregate towards the heart of the city. Many of the medium sized buildings are businesses like dry cleaners, battle clubs, Fan Clubs and so on. There are a few higher scale homes, but most of those are littered around the shorter section of the city.

The Junkyard appears on our right after a solid three hours of just trying to find the dang thing. A small, squat building sits out front, probably the managerial office. A Houndoom and a Houndour lazily sit out front, though their eyes never wander from watching us. After a brief pop into the office, the man that owns the Junkyard allows us to take whatever we want, as long as we take care of a Zubat and Rattata problem of his.

"Gears! And bike wheels!" I shout as I quickly run to a pile of metal, "Even _plates_ of metal!" Guy laughs at my enthusiasm.

"This must be like heaven to you, eh Rin?" He jokes but I just smile in return and stuff as many odds and ends into my bag as I can without tearing a hole in it. Tikeri jumps from pile to pile with me, growling at any Rattatas that stray too close for comfort.

"_Everything's so shiny_!" He gushes, "_What's this_?" I look to find him pawing at a large spool of copper wire.

"Tikeri, you're a genius!" I squeal and immediately grab it, "It's so hard to find decent copper wire in a junkyard!" Kasha and Guy both start laughing hard. "What?!"

"You should see your face, Rin," Kasha laughs, "You're like a kid in a candy store!"

"I can't help it! You try being me and not get excited," I retort. Kasha's eyes sadden slightly, probably remembering my confession on the road south, before we met Guy. I wince a little, not wanting to have made her sad.

"All right Rin, I'm sorry," She apologizes.

"It's fine, besides, we still need to take out that Rattata nest," I remind the two of them. Guy immediately groans and takes the lead to the back of the Junkyard. Kasha throws her arm around my shoulder, and Winter, and leads me behind Guy.

"Really, Rin, I am sorry," She whispers.

"Kasha, it's fine. It's really nice travelling with you and Guy. It's almost as if I started my journey like any other kid, without the whole my-house-blowing-up thing."

"Hey Rin?"

"Yeah?"

"Why haven't we gone to the police? You know they could probably help figure out who did it."

"I don't really know. Something in my gut just says to keep going and to leave my past behind. My parents kept a lot of things from me and I'm wondering if I really want to dig up the skeletons in their closet. Does that make any sense?"

"A little. But if it were me, I'd want to know the truth." I laugh at Kasha's statement.

"That's because you have no patience to let things be. You have _too_ much confidence Kasha, too much confidence to let yourself not know something." She laughs and bumps me with her hip.

"Well, then Ms. Smarty Pants, let's go take put those Rattata for the old dude and get to the Pokémon Center," She eyes the horizon where the sun is starting to droop, "Looks like we don't have time for Artisan's square tonight."

"You girls coming or what?" Guy shouts from ahead. Kasha and I laugh at his impatience and rush to catch up.

One cleared out nest of Rattata and a bag full of junk later, we depart from the Junkyard and off to the city heart to find the Pokémon center for a strategy meeting and a good night's sleep. Eve's rings glow with the moonlight until we find the warm glow and red roof of the Pokémon Center. Nurse Joy gives us our rooms and we retire for the night, I for one, excited for what tomorrow may bring.

**And there ends Chapter 9. The Lady in Blue may stay a secret, or maybe she'll make another appearance. I can't quite decide yet, but I await your reviews on baited breath, or they are the sustinence we authors thrive on so vividly. Okay, random weird moment aside, please review and be nice, I'm tryin my hardest here!**


	10. Of Art and Legends

Something wakes me up in the middle of the night. I don't exactly know what, but I do know that it is entirely unwelcome. I sit up and grumble a little and Eve wakes up too, her rings slowly lighting up in the inky darkness of the room.

"_What's wrong_?" She asks, her red eyes concerned. I just flap my hand at her and pad over to the window. I look out to find the street entirely empty besides a large dragon-type Pokémon and a kid next to it. I can't tell in the clouded moonlight, but the kid almost looks nervous. I sigh and climb back into the bottom bunk, Kasha having claimed the top one.

"Some guy is walking his dragon-type in the middle of the night," I whisper, "What a dork. He should know they hate to cold." Eve chuckles quietly and snuggles closer. "Hey Eve, I have a question."

"_What would that question be_?" She teases. I pet her ears and sit back against the wall.

"Why did you evolve that night outside Kentil?" She takes her time in answering, so I ramble on. "I thought Eevees only evolved into Espeon and Umbreon when they were fully trusting and happy with their Trainer. Not that I'm complaining or anything, but Mama and Papa just died… So why then?" Eve hums and takes more time.

"_Well, I guess that was the first time I felt really proud of you._" She explains, "_You and the furball were so set on catching Winter, and you commanded me so confidently… I guess I just forgot about what happened to us for long enough to enjoy battling again. Your mother hadn't battled with me in so long…_" I feel sad that Eve felt unappreciated. I never thought to ask her about that.

"Well, thank you for your confidence in me," I say and hug her close, "But every day I miss Mama and Papa and Flit more and more. It feels like there's a ragged hole on my chest that won't heal closed. I just… I just miss them so much right now." Eve responds by climbing into my lap, dwarfing my small frame almost entirely. I'll tell you now, Umbreon are not a small species.

"_You're not alone Rin. I miss David and Rebbekah very much and Flit too. But we have to move on. We can grieve now, but you can't let your sorrow get in the way of your dreams. You'll make them proud, of that I know for sure._"

"Thanks Eve, you always know what to say." With the grief in my heart lessened the slightest bit, I fall back asleep with Eve still sitting in my lap and my hand on her head.

"Rin! Kasha! Wake up!" Guy shouts as he slams open our door in a panicked rush.

"What?! What's happening?!" I shout and fall off the bed, Eve tumbling off beside me. Tikeri and Winter look down at us with confused expressions and Kasha rolls to the side of the bed to look down at Guy with sleepy eyes. I can hear a strangled noise and look up to see Guy holding in his laughter. Finally he can't hold it in anymore and bursts out laughing, Woody snickering by his feet. Buddy and Yuki peer around his legs to see the commotion.

"You should see your face Rin!" He says between gasps of air. Kasha climbs down and approaches Guy calmly, then slaps him upside the head.

"You ass!" She shouts, though not without humor. "Go away and let us get ready for the day, moron."

"Aww, I love you girls too!" He teases before Kasha slams the door on his nose. I can hear his yelp from our side of the wooden frame.

"What a dork," She says with a smile before pulling me off the floor. "I've got first shower!" She darts into our bathroom and I can hear the water start running immediately.

"_What was that_?" Winter and Tikeri ask at the same time. I laugh and grab a rag and the Lugia out of my pack to finish the details.

"That, my friends, was Guy and Woody being a couple of dorks," I reply. "Though that was the funniest morning I've had for a while." Winter looks appeased and Tikeri yawns widely, Eve chuckling at the three of us. "What's so funny?"

"_Nothing, I'm just enjoying the view,_" She says. I think I know what she's talking about with Winter and Tikeri beside me and my trinket looking spiff and shiny. I hear the door click open and see Guy peek his head in the room.

"Is Kasha around?" he asks cautiously, making me laugh.

"No she's in the shower," I tell him, "I'm gonna hop in once she's done and then we can head to Artisan's Square before hitting up the Gym." Guy gets a weird look on his face, like he's thinking of something he shouldn't be.

"I don't know, maybe you should join her and we can get going sooner," He says with a devilish smirk.

"You PERVERT!" I yell while I laugh and throw a pillow at him. "Shoo before I get Kasha to hurt you!" He laughs and leaves, closing the door behind him. I can't stop laughing at his suggestion and Kasha finds me giggling on the bed when she exits the bathroom.

"What happened while I was in there?" She asks, setting off another round of giggles from me. She just shakes her head and pulls on her sneakers. "I'll ask Guy, go shower so we can leave!"

After getting ready, Kasha and I meet Guy down at the lobby in the Pokémon center. Guy still has the smirk on his face and Woody is giggling by his side.

"Okay, what has got you two giggling so bad?!" Kasha inquires, giving Guy a steely glare. Both of us burst out in laughter and I have to sit on the nearest bench before I fall over. Kasha's face goes red and she crosses her arms. "Fine then! See what I care!" She strides out of the Center and we follow after her, still trying to stop laughing.

"Don't be mad," Guy says. "Rin and I just shared a funny joke when you were busy." Kasha sighs and throws her arms around the two of us.

"Well that's all fine and dandy, but don't we have somewhere to be?" She smiles. "Let's get our butts to Artisan's Square so we can get to the Gym."

"It isn't going anywhere Kasha," I tease. She lightly smacks my shoulder and skips ahead of us.

"But weren't you so excited yesterday?" She teases right back. I stick my tongue out at her and cross my arms. Winter chuckles from my shoulders and flicks her tail in my face.

"_You walked into that one Rin_," She says and I just pout a little more.

"Fine, you win," I sigh. "But let's get going before I make even more of a fool of myself this morning." Everyone laughs at this and I simply skip ahead of Kasha. "Eat my dust!" I laugh when Kasha's eyes light up in challenge as she starts running to catch up with me.

Not ten minutes later we hit Artisan's Square. The place is huge! It sits in the exact center of the city and has the look of an outdoor market from the Renaissance era. Stands with cloth roofs and hand-painted signs dot the cobblestone plaza. In the center of the stones is a unique pattern of colored stones depicting a large blue bird and what looks like a Crysat… funky. Behind the picture is a stage set up with crimson curtains and everything. No one seems to be interested in it now, but I would guess it's for performances and festivals.

The plaza is also crowded with scores of people. There are businessmen, tourists bundled up against the weak cold like it's a blizzard, regular citizens and shopkeepers with some of the weirdest clothes I've seen yet. One group next to a wagon- an actual wooden wagon –are dressed like a bunch of gypsies. Another shopkeeper looks like he's been plucked out of the Victorian era. A few look like normal people from other regions. In short- this place is Heaven –right behind the Junkyard.

"Wow, I knew this place was going to be busy, but I never thought it'd be like this!" Guy remarks. I laugh at him and grab his wrist.

"Come on. Let's go see all the shiny baubles!" He laughs at me and lets me drag him along. Kasha seems distracted by the Victorian man. The gypsy group smiles as we approach the worn stall full of shiny trinkets.

"Hallo!" A man with a salt-and-pepper beard says in a thick accent. "Welcomme to mine shop. Please do not break things, or you will haf to buy them." He winks with a smirk to show us it's all in good nature.

"Are you from Baylou?" I ask, recognizing the accent. The man smiles wider and slaps my back, rattling my teeth.

"You know of Baylou?" He asks and I nod. "I haf not been to mine forested home in long time. You haf family there?"

"My aunt and uncle and their kids live there," I reply, trying not to feel the guilt for not thinking of them sooner. I wonder if they've heard the news yet… The large bearded man laughs jovially and slaps my back again. I can see Guy trying not to snicker at my discomfort by hiding his smile behind his hands. I give him a face and he just turns redder for trying not to laugh.

"Well, you haf to see this," the large man says and plucks a bracelet off the counter. "This is old Balyou charm for luck and safety. You can haf it." I stare at the bracelet for a minute before it hits me.

"You want to just give this to me?" I ask incredulously. He drops the jewelry in my hand.

"Anyone with ghost eyes needs safety," He says with a wink. "Besides, you know of Baylou, not many do. Anytime you find yourself in Baylou, just tell shopkeepers you know Nikolai Redwing. They will help you if you need it."

"I-I can't thank you enough, Mr. Redwing," I say but he flaps his hand at me.

"I am just following tradition," He says. "Luck and help for ghost eyes. Not every day you see them." I look at Guy to see his face is one of disbelief and extreme curiosity. Woody, however, seems oblivious towards everything but the stall filled with green glass vases and baubles.

"Well, thank you, thank you immensely," I reply. "Mr. Redwing, do you know where I can get a good price for this." I rummage around in my bag until I pull out the mechanical Lugia. Nikolai looks it over and I see a light bulb go off in his head.

"Ah! Mr. Zodaps, the man down this road a bit, likes metal things," He says. "You could sell to him." I smile and replace the toy in my bag.

"Thank you for your help, Mr. Redwing," I wave and tow Guy back towards the Victorian man's stall where Kasha is still hung up.

"What was all that?!" Guy immediately asks. I chuckle at his curious nature and look over the bracelet Nikolai gave me. It's fairly simple with two charms hanging from a blue colored cord. One charm is a small silver ball with a tree carved on it. The other is a small onyx disc with a strange rune inlaid on it in silver. It looks like a pair of fangs connected by a horizontal line with two vertical lines extending upwards between them.

"Riiin!" Guy whines, making me chuckle again. "Are you going to answer me? And what's Baylou?"

"Baylou is the region to the east of us, across the Green Mountains. It's a region with weird customs and even weirder Pokémon. _That_ was an old Baylou superstition," I explain. "People used to believe others with really light eyes like mine could see ghosts. So for their hard times dealing with the dead, it's customary to give luck charms or help to people with 'ghost eyes'. My cousin has the same eyes and she used to get bugged all the time about them." Another pang of guilt stabs my stomach about my cousin. I really should call them at some point…

"What's all this about 'ghost eyes'?" Kasha asks.

"Rin just got free stuff because she's got freaky eyes," Guy pouts. Kasha laughs and throws an arm around his shoulders.

"Well here, I got you something nice anyway," She hands him a churro. "The stall next to Mr. Victorian over there sells them. They're heavenly!" I giggle at her word choice and fasten the bracelet around my wrist. Guy sighs and takes a bite of his churro, visibly improving with the sweet treat.

"Guess what I found out!" She says quickly. "You see the picture in the stones?"

"Yeah, it's a little hard to miss. What about it?" I ask.

"Mr. Victorian says there's a legend about it." Kasha explains. "I'll sum it up though. Legend says Articuno used to roost in the mountains near Eira- The Ice Mountains –and guard an old relic. But when it was called back to a different region, it spawned the Crysat to keep its treasure guarded. So, apparently, Winter is a descendant of Articuno." I laugh off the story and steal a bite of her churro.

"Really?!" Guy says excitedly. "I thought you said Legendaries didn't live in Alamar." His teasing is directed toward me. Gee, he changed loyalties fast.

"What about it Winter?" I ask my feline. "Any truth to this legend."

"_Rin, that was probably centuries ago._" She scolds quickly. "_I wouldn't know either way_." She seems uneasy about the subject, but I guess it's not my business. Though now I've got my suspicions.

"Huh, oh well," I shrug it off and repeat what she said to my friends. Guy looks deflated, but he perks back up with each bite of his churro.

"Seriously, what are these made of?!" He jokes, getting a laugh out of Kasha and me.

"Come on, I want to see this 'Mr. Zodaps' so I can sell my toy." I say and head down the street. Kasha drags Guy along and we hunt the street until we find a stall decorated with mechanical trinkets of all sorts.

"Hello?" I shout into the stall. "Anyone here?"

"Yes, yes, no need to shout," a voice says suddenly, scaring the crap out of me in the process. "What can I do for you young one?" A tall man appears out of nowhere, looming over the counter of his stall. His blonde hair looks singed with all the dyed black parts and his nose is rather long. His manner of dress is just as weird as all the other people out here. He is wearing a pair of loose, white cotton pants and a loose yellow shirt with fancy embroidery at the bottom, like a foreign prince of sorts. "Well?"

"Umm, yes, ah." I stutter. "Mr. Redwing… he ah, he said…" He raises an eyebrow, challenging me to go on.

"What our friend is trying to say, is that she has something to show you," Kasha butts in. "Go on Rin, he's not going to peck at you." The tall man smiles as if he found what she said ironic.

"Okay, have a look at this," I say quickly and dig the Lugia out of my bag. Mr. Zodaps' eyes widen at the sight of my trinket. He plucks it out of my hand and examines it.

"Where did you stumble upon something like this?" He asks as he turns it over and over.

"I made it." His eyebrows disappear into his bangs. He looks at me like I just told him I conquered the Alamar League with a Magikarp.

"You _made_ this?"

"She sure did," Kashs says. "You callin' her a liar?" The man chuckles and points to the windup key.

"What's this do?"

"It's… a windup key…" I say. Why wouldn't he know what it is?

"I mean what does it make it do? It can't possibly fly…" He seems stumped, so I grab the toy out of his hand and wind it up. It lifts off my palm in the same way it did in the forest and circles our heads before flying straight to land on the street.

"Hey look, it didn't go for my head this time!" Guy jokes. Mr. Zodaps looks amazed, stupefied even. Guy picks up the toy and puts it back on the counter.

"How did you get it to fly?!" Mr. Zodaps asks.

"I dunno, I just did." And it's the truth. I just thought if I made the wings wide enough they'd catch the air. The man looks at me with that incredulous expression again and stares for a minute.

"Umm, so do you want to buy it or… not…" Seriously, his staring is starting to creep me out, but I also find my eyes drawn to him. Something about him seems strangely familiar. Like the Blue Lady in the restaurant yesterday, he has a way of commanding attention, drawing one's focus.

"Well, young one, what are you willing to part with it for?" Mr. Zodaps asks. For a minute I get lost staring at him, but eventually my brain realizes he asked me a question.

"Depends on what you're offering," I say, still examining the tall man. His dark eyes rove over mine as he sums up my character. Then it hits me. He has the same soft golden glow like the Blue Lady! It's just barely there, but against the dark interior of his shop, it stands out ever so slightly.

"Then we shall play the bargain game," He says with a smile, distracting me from the glow. "I will offer and you will counter offer until we agree, deal?" I nod and set Winter on the ground. Mr. Zodaps looks at her like he's just noticed her. He seems almost surprised at her presence, but focuses back on me quickly.

"For a toy like this, I suppose I could offer… let's say 500Poké." He says. Already it's more than I thought I would get or it, but if that's his starting point, he's got to be willing to pay much higher.

"Really, for hours and hours of work?" I tease, feeling strangely courageous. "500Poké for hours of detail work and actually making the mechanics. I say 900Poké." The man smiles.

"Aren't you confident in your handiwork," He teases back. "I guess for hours upon hours of work I could raise it to 650Poké." I scoff, something I would never usually do to a stranger, and roll my eyes.

"Yes, but it actually flies," I point out. "Surely that has to be worth at _least_ 850Poké." He raises his eyebrows.

"I don't think you know how this game works, little one," He says. "I say 700Poké and that's as high as I want to go." His dark eyes look victorious, but my confidence is feeling a little too good to let up now.

"And I say I won't take anything under 775Poké," I respond. His eyebrows really go up into his hair now. His face takes on a glare, staring me down like he wants to vaporize me, but I glare right back. I swear I'm high in adrenaline right now. After about a minute, Mr. Zodaps' face breaks out into a smile.

"My, my, don't you have a pair," He chuckles. "I accept your offer and raise you 50Poké just because I like you." He sticks out his hand, which I shake before breaking out into a huge smile.

"I guess that wasn't bad for my first time," Mr. Zodaps looks stunned but then laughs.

"No wonder Redwing gave you a trinket, you put those ghost eyes to good use," He smiles and brings a cash box out from underneath the counter. He counts out the cash and we exchange our goods. "I hope to see you again, maybe with another toy for me." I wink and stuff the cash in my wallet, then put that in my bag.

"I'm sure you will, someday," I say. "If you like traveling."

"Challenging the Alamar League?" He asks and I nod. "Good. Maybe I'll see you in Análi."

"Hey, do you know a lady with blue hair that sparkles a little bit?" I ask, the question blurting itself out before I can think about it. Mr. Zodaps looks at me suspiciously and crosses his arms.

"Why?"

"Well, she kinda left her book in the restaurant yesterday…" I pull out the worn leather volume and show it to him. "It's just you have the same kind of air about you and I thought you might be her older brother or something." Mr. Zodaps only glances at the book before turning his dark gaze back on me.

"Well, I do know a lady with blue hair, but last I seen her, she was in Kanto," He brushes off quickly. "Besides, she would never leave a book lying around. You must be mistaken." I frown and stow away the book.

"Oh, okay then," I sigh. "Thanks for your business, and good fortune in the future." Mr. Zodaps waves at the three of us as we head down the street.

"Next stop, the Gym!" Kasha says happily. "We can finally get our first Gym badge! Let's go Slowpokes!" I laugh at her exuberance, immediately forgetting the strange look the shopkeeper gave me and dash ahead down the street. Guy chuckles at the both of us and follows leisurely, Woody swaggering by his side.

"_I'm so pumped_!" Tikeri says, a burst of fire exiting his mouth as he barks. "_Our first challenge_!"

"_Good to see you're confident_," Winter teases, making Tikeri puff out his chest in pride.

"Let's go!" I yell.

_The lady with the blue hair… How is it I don't find it surprising that my sister is here? She always had a knack for seeking out trouble. _

"Mr. Zodaps? Is that really the best you can do?" A girlish voice calls into the stall. The blue-haired lady stands at the counter, lording over it as if it were her birth right. The man with the singed hair chuckles darkly and approaches the young lady.

"And yet, you let yourself be seen by a child," He retorts. "All because you wanted to show a book of fairytales to an old friend. Shame sister." The Blue Lady huffs and taps her fingers on the counter.

"It wasn't my fault," She whines. "You know there are people that can't be fooled, those with different minds." The man chuckles and places a trinket on the counter, the very same trinket he just bought.

"That child who saw you made this," He states. "Tell me, is this just coincidence, or are things stirring sister? Who was that child? I know you must have gotten a good look at her if you've followed her to me." The Blue Lady sighs dramatically and examines the trinket while she explains.

"In the restaurant, I caught her staring at me when I thought I was invisible to everyone but my friend. She looked mesmerized and embarrassed at the same time when I caught her eyes. They are such a _lovely_ shade of blue you know! Anyway, I thought I was just seeing my friend and here I have a child staring at me as if I had two heads. I stared back, you know, and saw what she is." The man raises his eyebrows as the lady pauses in her story.

"You know I don't have all day," The man says impatiently.

"Please, brother, you have all eternity," The woman retorts. "This child is special though. I think she may be a Bond Child."

"Here?! Of all places, here?" The man asks incredulously. "Things are stirring sister… But question is, for the better or worse?" The lady chuckles and shrugs.

"I don't know, but it will be fun!" She says happily. "Do you think our sister is here too?" The blonde man laughs heartily and returns the toy to his collection.

"If she is, she's down in the Islands," He replies. "She doesn't tolerate the cold like you and I do." The woman laughs in a musical manner.

"You call this cold? This is a sauna to me." The man shrugs off the comment and fiddles with another trinket.

"I'm worried sister, about what's to come."

"Well, you shouldn't, there will be a Hero and a Villain just like every other time. Though I'm starting to think the Bond Child might be important. Do you think so?" The man nods slowly, as if lost in thought.

"She is challenging the League, why not go see her Gym battle today? I'm sure there will be a crowd." The Blue Lady smiles and taps her brother on the nose.

"Perhaps I will. Though, Zapdos, please think of a better name, yours is entirely too obvious!" Zapdos simply smiles at his sister before he starts to pick up his shop.

"Go watch your Champion and see if she is the Hero we need. I am going to go find our sister. Don't let yourself get caught."

"As if you need to remind me, brother!" With that, the Blue Lady strides down the street, attracting the attention of many men as she walks past.

"Easier said than done, Articuno, especially when you love to show off so much." Zapdos scoffs and continues his work.

**Haha! I am finally done with this chapter! Amazing where the story goes when you let it write itself. So enjoy, review, or hate and ignore, your choice. Read on fellow authors! **


	11. The Steam Badge

"So, ready for this?" Kasha asks, standing before the tall, blue and red painted building. The Alamar League symbol- a Pokéball inside a star –hangs above the door.

"I think so, at least as ready as I'll ever be," I reply. I'm shaking with nervous energy, but I have to try at least. Tikeri pushes me forward towards the door.

"_Come on Rin, we've got no time to lose_!" he whines. Kasha laughs at him and Guy smiles.

"All right, all right. Don't get your tail in a knot, I'm going!" I grab Kasha's hand and head towards the door. "We might as well get this over with." Right as I reach it, the door whooshes open and a person step out. My face plants itself in her collarbone and she yelps.

"Watch it!" She shouts. I scramble back and look up into a very irritated face. Bright blue eyes stare me down and make me feel even smaller than I already am.

"I-I'm sorry, we w-were-"

"Why don't _you_ watch it Shorty?" Kasha challenges. She crosses her arms and stares down the girl. The girl flips her platinum blonde hair over her shoulder and very rudely pushes past me.

"I highly doubt you can beat the Gym Leaders with that rag tag group of Pokémon," She says snottily. "Though watching you fail might be fun." I examine the rude girl, she commands attention like a flame attracts Mothim. She holds herself very confidently, almost like the way Kasha does. Her hair has two streaks in it, red on the left and blue on the right. Her cropped jean jacket covers a pink, low-cut shirt. I wonder how she's not freezing in her purple mini-skirt, though her grey knee high boots look fairly warm. An Eevee sits on her shoulder, obviously well taken care of by the shine of its fur.

"Yeah, you keep believing that," Kasha snorts.

"You're Lilly Breckenridge!" Guy shouts suddenly. "I know you from that old sitcom!" Lilly smiles brightly, flashing such white teeth that I think I might go blind.

"Hello tall, blonde and handsome," She drawls, switching moods in the blink of an eye. "It's always nice to meet a fan. Where are you headed?" Guy blushes and starts stammering.

"W-well I w-was going to g-g-go watch m-my friends' b-battle…" He stutters as Lilly cuddles up to him. Guy is bright as a tomato, obviously enamored with this rude girl.

"Oh, you don't want to do that do you? Why don't we go somewhere and have lunch." She flutters her lashes at Guy, making me roll my eyes in exasperation. I never liked flirts. They're so arrogant and annoying. Three girls in Eira used to do it all the time when they got bored.

"I-I-I," Guy stammers before Kasha yanks him away from Lilly.

"Sorry Princess, he's got plans," she says. "Maybe when Hell freezes over." Lilly pouts and turns her back on us.

"Fine, I don't need to date a geek anyway," she huffs. "I'm outta here." With that, she heads downtown, to the Pokémon Center most likely.

"Hey!" Guy yells. "What if I wanted to go to lunch with her?" Kasha snorts and shakes her head.

"Sweetie, girls like that only go out with nice guys like you so they don't have to pay for themselves," Kasha says. "Didn't you see how easily she dumped you when I butted in? Trust me, you're better off without her."

"How do you know her?" I ask, still in the dark about her identity.

"Really? She used to be the star of 'It's Sunny with Solrock'. It was pretty popular all over, I can't believe you don't know it." I shrug. We didn't get many stations, mostly just news and basic stuff like static.

"I guess you did live pretty far north," Kasha adds. "Oh well, let's go! We've got badges to win!" She drags me through the door, leaving Guy behind in our dust.

The inside of the Gym is something I never could have imagined. The field of battle is surrounded by a moat of deep blue water with seaweed and reeds on the sides. The field itself is pockmarked with rocks and grass, like some abandoned ruin.

"Hello!" Kasha calls out. "We're here to challenge the Gym!" The yell echoes into silence, no one calling back for an answer.

"You think they're here?" I ask.

"Well, Lilly just came from in here, so maybe they're taking care of their Pokémon," Guy shrugs. "We can always come later…"

"No way José!" Kasha says. "We're here for a challenge and we're going to get one. Hey! Anyone here?!"

"Hold your Ponyta! We're coming!" I hear a voice shout back. From the other side of the huge room, a door slides open and two kids step out. The first is a girl who looks about eighteen. She has long blonde hair and intimidating ocean blue eyes. She has nothing on but a red one piece suit and a blue sports jacket hanging mostly open on top of it.

The next is a guy that could very possibly be her brother, not by looks, but by the way he dresses. His outfit is similar with just a pair of swim trunks and a black jacket with a tight orange shirt underneath. His shorts are blue with orange flames and his jacket is decorated with flames of azure. His hair is short and brown, combed over to one side, away from his orange eyes.

"The second one today already," the guy says calmly.

"Why can't people wait for a day or something," the girl whines. "Listen guys, we're glad you wanted to challenge us, but we just got done kicking that other girl's butt, so maybe tomorrow."

"Aqua, you know the rules," the guy scolds. "League regulations say that we have to accept all challenges. This is exactly why we have so many Pokémon with us." Aqua pouts.

"Fine, Cinder! But you owe me lunch if they lose," Aqua says. Guy starts to snicker.

"This is what I told you about earlier," he says to us quietly.

"Hey! I know you!" Aqua shouts. "You were here, like, a week ago! We already gave you your badge."

"I'm just here for support this time," Guy answers. Cinder smiles.

"That's nice, I wouldn't want to battle you again after I got my ass handed to me the first time." I like Cinder, he's a pretty chill guy. "You mind if we gather spectators? The last girl didn't want too and Aqua's just itching to show off."

"Am not!" She shouts back. "Okay, yeah I am. So can we?" I look at Kasha and shrug.

"Sure why not?" She says. Aqua jumps excitedly and runs out the door.

"She'll be back in… like ten minutes. What Pokémon are you using?" Cinder asks.

"Only if you show us yours," Kasha says, getting a small laugh out of Guy. I shove my elbow into his gut, but he acts like nothing happened.

"Yes, but we need to know how powerful of Pokémon to use. You wouldn't want to go up against Aqua's Gyarados if you've only got a Wurmple. It's supposed to be challenging, not impossible."

"Makes sense," Kasha nods, then throws her Pokéballs into the air. Shade and Current look ready for battle already.

"Wow, those two look strong. What about you…um, what are your names?" I laugh at our total skip over introductions.

"Reena Frost, but call me Rin. That's Kasha. How many Pokémon can we use?" Cinder blinks, like he never thought of it.

"Well, I suppose since Kasha has only two, then we'll all use two."

"Okay. Then I'm using Tikeri and Eve," I gesture to my Pokémon by my feet.

"Sounds good. Now all we have to do is wait for Aqua to get back with her usual crowd." It's not ten minutes before people start filing in through the doors, taking their seats in the stands. Aqua must be quite the talker to get so many people here in just a few minutes. The bleachers are full by the time Aqua strides back through the doors. Guy takes Winter from me and goes to join the crowd in the stands.

"Okay, now we've got the perfect atmosphere!" Aqua shouts over the excited jabbering of the crowd. "Are you two ready?"

"You bet we are! We're going to kick your butts into next Tuesday," Kasha says, rarin' to go and still as dauntless as ever. Aqua grins widely and looks over Kasha's and my Pokémon before sharing a look with Cinder.

"Would you like to start, or shall I?" Cinder asks. Aqua replies by pulling a pokéball out of her jacket pocket and throwing it in the air.

"Panpour, let's get going!" Aqua's little blue monkey takes center stage, jumping up and down a few times in excitement.

"Pansear, let's show them who's best," Cinder says, throwing out his own monkey, though his is red and sleepier than Panpour.

"Current, you're up!" Kasha's Skarmory flits to the battlefield, intimidating as Kasha is confident. I look down at my two battlers.

"Eve, you're up first," I tell her and she dashes out to stand next to Current. A referee stands at the half-way mark and raises a green flag to grab everyone's attention.

"This battle between the Leaders and Challengers shall consist of two Pokémon each. One side will win only when all Pokémon of one side are unable to battle. There are no substitutions and no healing allowed. Let the battle begin!" He waves his flag to signal the start. Kasha wastes no time in ordering Current to use Agility and she starts flying left and right, her speed increasing each time.

"Eve, Tail Whip!" I order and Eve waves her tail in front of the monkeys, entrancing them into lowering their defenses.

"Panpour, snap out of it and use Lick!" Aqua shouts.

"Pansear, Incinerate on Skarmory," Cinder says calmly. Panpour drags her tongue over Eve's face, disgusting the both of us, though it doesn't do much damage considering it's a ghost-type move. Before Pansear can fire off an Incinerate, Kasha orders Current to use Swift, nailing the red monkey with shining stars.

"Eve, Quick Attack!" Eve bursts toward Panpour, slamming her body into the tiny blue monkey. Panpour cries out but picks herself out of the dirt.

"Current, let's get Pansear with Fury Attack." Current goes in to peck at Pansear, but Cinder quickly orders him to dodge and use Incinerate again. The flames hit Current's wings, making their metal surface flash in their intensity.

"Eve, quick we've got to help Current. Faint Attack!" Eve rushes towards Pansear, but Aqua orders Panpour to keep us busy. Eve is hit with Panpour's Scald and she growls.

"You're not getting away that easy," Aqua taunts. "Panpour, Lick again."

"Eve, Bite!" When Panpour tries to Lick Eve's face again, she receives a surprise when Eve bites down hard on her tongue. Panpour's eyes bulge out in astonishment and so do Aqua's.

"That's cheating!" Aqua yells. I smile, feeling triumphant already.

"Eve, throw her at Pansear!" Eve grins as she whips Panpour around her head, shooting the blue monkey straight into the red. "It's not cheating if it wasn't banned in the first place." Aqua's face turns a bright shade of red, matching her swimsuit. Cinder laughs, but tries to cover it with a cough. Aqua's glare could melt stone.

"She got ya there, sis. Pansear, shake it off and use Scratch on the Umbreon!" Pansear throws off his companion and lunges at Eve, barely missing as she rolls to the side, only to get hit with Panpour's Scald. Their teamwork is outstanding, each covering for one another when they need it the most. Though, I have noticed that it's Cinder that's doing most of the retaliating. Aqua is trying to take us down with her brute strength.

"Current! Air Cutter!" Kasha orders, pointing at Pansear. Current's wings glow white as she slashes toward the red monkey, sending blades of air at him.

"Eve, Quick Attack!" I yell. She nods before streaking towards Panpour. The air blades hit Pansear and Panpour both, knocking them back a few feet. Before Panpour can regain her balance, Eve smashes into her and knocks her out. Pansear tries to scratch Eve with a Fury Attack, but Current swoops in to save the day with a Swift attack. Now Pansear is down for the count.

"Yeah!" Kasha yells. "High-five!" I slap her upheld hand and beam at her. Two down, two to go. Eve still looks rarin' to go, though she is breathing pretty heavily.

"Eve, you okay for round two?" I shout to her. She turns to me with an elated smile.

"_Good to go! Let's show them who's boss_." I give her a thumbs up, ready for the next two Pokémon that Cinder and Aqua have.

"You two are an impressive team," Cinder compliments.

"Don't think you're gonna win so easily!" Aqua shouts. She throws out her next Pokémon, a Marshtomp. Cinder laughs and follows suit, sending out a Monferno. This won't be good for either of us. Current is weak to fire and Eve is weak to fighting-type attacks.

"Current, Air cutter!" Kasha goes for Monferno's weakness quickly. But the monkey dodges out of the way.

"Monferno, Mach Punch please," Cinder orders. The orange Pokémon gathers light in his fist and lunges at a blinding speed towards Eve. I can't even tell her to dodge before she is sent flying by the hit. She lands with a thud, unable to continue. I recall her to her Poké ball, thanking her for her hard work before I look to Tikeri.

"Ready Tikeri?" I ask. He snorts a bit of fire before dashing out to the field.

"Marshtomp, Water gun!" Aqua's Pokémon inhales deeply before shooting a stream of water at Tikeri. He jumps out of the way just in time. He and I will have to be careful if we're to beat Aqua's double advantage.

"Tikeri, Bite on Monferno!" Tikeri clamps his jaws down on Monferno's arm, making him flinch harshly.

"Current, Fury Attack!" Current jabs her beak at Marshtomp repeatedly before Aqua orders a close range Water gun, bringing down the metal bird. Kasha recalls Current and sends in Shade. He takes the stage proudly in the midst of the shouting and cheering audience.

"Down to our last," I comment. Kasha winks at me.

"This is where we test our mettle. Shade, Slash!" Shade's horn glows bright white as he charges Marshtomp. Marshtomp takes the hit like a champ and shoves Shade off of her.

"Tikeri, Helping Hand!" Tikeri's paws glow in a pastel colored light and he transfers the energy to Shade's body. Shade smiles.

"Marshtomp, into the water!" Aqua orders. With surprising speed, Marshtomp dives into the moat surrounding the field. Now we can't see where she'll attack from.

"Monferno, Ember on the Absol!" Cinder orders directly. Monferno expels a blast of embers at Absol. I smile, finally getting the chance to show off a little.

"Tikeri, you're up!" I shout. He smiles and jumps in front of Shade. It seems the Ember attack will hit, but before it can, Tikeri swallows the little flames. Both Cinder and Aqua look stupefied.

"WHAT?!" Aqua shouts. "What was _that_?! That _has_ to be cheating!" Tikeri licks his lips and burps up a bit of the flames.

"Tikeri's ability is Flash Fire. He takes no damage from fire based attacks and uses their energy to power up his own attacks," I explain like a schoolteacher. "We learned it on the way here."

Cinder starts laughing, grabbing his stomach. Kasha and Aqua both exchange surprised looks. When we learned it, she was a bit busy battling a Trainer herself.

"Tikeri, let's show him a Flame Wheel!" I order the new move we learned when we discovered how much Tikeri liked the taste of fire. Tikeri runs and leaps into the air, surrounding himself with an aura of fire before he starts rolling towards Monferno. He doesn't have any time to dodge before Tiekri slams into his stomach, propelling him backwards. Though, being a fire-type attack, it didn't do as much damage as I was hoping.

"Marshtomp, Mud Shot!" Aqua orders. Marshtomp jumps out of the water just long enough to spit a wad of high-speed mud at Shade before she dives back into the water.

"Monferno, Scratch," Cinder shouts. Monferno starts dragging his claws down Tikeri's side and I order him to retreat. That monkey's speed is nothing to be trifled with.

"Marshtomp, Mud Slap!" Marshtomp jumps from the water again to throw mud at both Tikeri and Shade. She repeats this again and again, littering the field with mud and holes. Tikeri's fur is all dirty and Shade looks like he rolled around in the muck.

"Shade, Pursuit!" Kasha instructs. Shade darts towards the water and right as Marshtomp is about to fire another Mud Slap, he slams his faintly glowing body into her, blasting her back onto the field. Tikeri's Helping Hand earlier made it hurt all the worse.

"Monferno, Mach Punch!" Monferno lunges at Tikeri.

"Tikeri, Bite!" Tikeri's teeth close around Monferno's fist at the last second, pinning him to the ground. "Now, Flame Wheel!" Tikeri smirks as he surrounds himself of flames again, rolling over Monferno again and again as he keeps the monkey's fist in his jaws.

"Shade, Double Team!" Shade splits off into multiple ghost copies. Aqua looks panicked as she orders a wide sweeping Mud shot. Most of the doubles jump as Shade does, avoiding the mud entirely. Shade goes in for a Slash attack, his copies making it impossible to see which one is the real one.

"Tikeri, release!" Tikeri stops spinning and catapults Monferno into Marshtomp. Both hit the floor with a thud, but they both stand up again, looking worse for the wear.

"Kasha, let's wrap this up." She smiles widely.

"Shade, Slash at full power!" Shades horn glows blindingly and seems to grow in its light.

"Tikeri, Flame Wheel!" Tikeri immediately leaps into action.

"Monferno, get out of there!" Cinder orders desperately.

"Marshtomp, into the water!" Aqua yells, panic edging her voice.

"Don't let her!" Kasha orders Shade.

Tikeri and Shade race across the field, forking off to their respective opponents. Before Marshtomp can dive for the water, Shade's glowing horn slices the Pokémon, dropping her to the floor. Tikeri scored a direct hit on Monferno, launching him back towards his Trainer, out cold. Neither of them get back up.

"That's the match!" the ref yells. "With each of the Leaders' Pokémon unable to continue, the challengers win!"

Kasha and I both scream like schoolgirls, jumping up and down in our excitement. Aqua's face distorts into a snarl as she recalls her Marshtomp. Cinder smiles ruefully as he recalls his partner.

"Congratulations, you girls did it!" Guy says, bringing back Winter with a large smile on his face. "That was really impressive. It took me nearly an hour to beat Aqua's Marshtomp even with Woody's grass-type advantage."

"_You did wonderfully_," Winter purrs. I scratch her ear and bend down to Tikeri.

"That was amazing Tikeri," I compliment. He barks happily, no meaning to it other than to express his joy.

"NO! They cheated!" Aqua's voice resounds through the crowded place.

"Aqua, it's the rules. Don't be such a baby about it." Cinder looks like he's trying his best to calm his sister down, but if I know Aqua from our interaction, she isn't going to calm down soon.

"I refuse," Aqua snaps before stomping to the back of the Gym, through the doors. Cinider sighs and almost scowls after his sister. The ref taps him on the shoulder and points to us. He drags a hand down his face and takes a deep breath, putting on a more amiable expression before walking over.

"You two were one of the most fun challengers I've had in a long while. Aqua too." Guy made a sound of indignation. "You were too strategic to be fun." Guy pouts.

"So, what happened with her?" Kasha asks bluntly. Cinder shrugs.

"She's never been a gracious loser. But at least I don't need her permission to give you these." He hands Kasha and I badges. It has a small, blue crystal in the center of an orange flame with little, almost clear clouds rising from it. "This is the Steam Badge. Your first badge is something to be treasured, so enjoy the memories."

"Thank you Cinder. You were amazing as well." He smiles and salutes us with his first two fingers.

"Your next stop should be Somerset, then you could double back and go to Rissu and Quetalo. Tell Dalena and Muhanned we say hi when you challenge them. They're the Leaders of the Somerset Gym." I nod and put the badge in my case.

"Well, we should be off," Kasha says, grabbing my wrist. "We'll have to get all our necessities if we're going to Somerset. Bye Cinder! Thanks for the challenge!" She pulls me out of the Gym with the crowd of people leaving. A few congratulate us as we pass. Guy finds it hilarious when a child asks Kasha why her hair is white. She just punches him in the gut.

"Let's go, you two," I laugh, "before we get lost in the city in the dark." Sunset was still a while off, but Marn was a large place.

Articuno laughed to herself as the two children battled against the two, only slightly older children. She could see the promise in both of them, but the smaller one with the white hair drew her attention the most. Every hit her own Pokémon took, she winced. Such empathy was not common in young Trainers, or anyone really.

When they won, Articuno made up her mind. She would ask the Pokémon she knew to keep an eye on this 'Reena Frost'. Maybe if she could contact one of the Rovers… No. she shook away the thought. The Rovers were already busy. This region was going to have such a nice surprise, and soon.

Though, she wondered about the child. It wasn't impossible that she could be a Bond Child. But, born in a region with no Legends for itself yet, it was nigh impossible. The Rovers didn't stray this far east and even Lugia didn't guard these seas. So then why could the child see her? Only Bond Children could see the Legendaries when they were disguised.

A young man caught Articuno's eye. He was scanning the crowd as if looking for something, something important. His mismatched eyes intrigued Articuno. They seemed to weigh tons with the weight of whatever problems he was holding inside himself. He didn't leave with the crowd, but waited for all of them to leave before he picked himself off the bench and walked out.

"I wonder where his loyalties lie," Articuno mumbled to herself. She trotted after him and 'accidentally bumped into him.

"Hey!" he shouted indignantly.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, setting a hand on his shoulder blade. "I have a nasty habit of not watching where I'm going. I'm really very sorry."

"Fine. Just let me through," he said, swiping her hand off of him. Articuno took her hand back and let him pass.

She looked down at her fingers, wiping them across each other like there was oil on them. She looked past a mother and child to look at the boy again. She shivered and wiped her fingers on her dress.

"Poor boy," she mumbled before blending into the crowd.

**And there marks another chapter! Sorry for not updating for, like, ever! I tried to make the battle exciting, to enjoy. Or don't, whatever. Please review! Even if you hate it, I want to know why! Read on fellow authors! ~Ravinae**


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